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NEWS from Denmark
Denmark endures Notre-Dame fire moment and vows to rebuild
Story by Adrienne Murray – Copenhagen April 20, 2024
Alarm bells first rang out early on Tuesday morning as fire ripped through Copenhagen's historic former stock exchange building, Børsen.
Within no time at all the inferno had gutted large parts of the 400-year-old structure and toppled the ornate spire known for its distinctive dragons.
Brian Mikkelsen, who heads the Danish Chamber of Commerce which owns Børsen, has vowed that it will be rebuilt "no matter what".
Comparisons have been drawn with France's Notre-Dame cathedral, which was devastated by fire in 2019.
Danish officials now hope to find out what lessons can be learned from the cathedral's swift restoration.
Mr Mikkelsen was cycling to his office when he first heard about the fire and arrived to find scores of firefighters tackling the blaze.
"I was biking in there. Then I saw the flames," he said.
Together with colleagues and emergency workers, he ran into the burning building multiple times to rescue some of the hundreds of centuries-old artworks stored inside.
"We'd been running, in and out, in and out. Sometimes the fire team said we should get out because we were right next to the fire," he recalled.
"I didn't think, I just reacted. It was intuition saying that we have to save this."
Mr Mikkelsen and a colleague rescue one of the paintings housed inside Børsen© Getty Images
About 100 soldiers were brought in to help the rescue effort, climbing on each other's shoulders to pull down artworks mounted high up on the walls.
Except for a bust of King Christian IV of Denmark that weighed two tonnes, most of the historic items were recovered.
"We got almost everything," Mr Mikkelsen told me. "So that's a little hope in disaster."
Fortuitously the spire's ornamental metal tip also survived and was handed over to him.
"It is one of the worst days of my life," he reflected. "It's really a disaster for history and for culture."
Watching in horror
Danes have been shocked and saddened by the loss of the famous dragon spire from the city's picture postcard skyline.
It is a sight that many regularly walk or cycle past, and there has been a public outpouring of support with people sharing photos of Børsen on social media.
Resident Cheri Christiansen told me that seeing it burn down was emotional.
"I have a full view over the city and I could see the flames. I burst into tears, because it's our heritage," she said, adding: "It's never going to be the same. But I hope they can rebuild it."
"It was a very sad feeling because it is a very historical building," said another resident, Mohamed Ibrahim Zaid.
"I could see it from my apartment. It was devastating to watch," agreed Viktor Stabel Øvro, who also lives nearby.
"I hope they will reconstruct it, just as it was before."
