Copenhagen vows to rebuild fire-hit stock exchange

Only the outer walls of Copenhagen's old stock exchange remain standing

Copenhagen's fire-ravaged former stock exchange, one of the Danish capital's most famous landmarks, must be restored to its former glory, say officials.

The 400-year-old building was being renovated when the blaze erupted on Tuesday, destroying its iconic spire.

In a joint statement, the city's mayor and district mayors said: "We cannot do without the Stock Exchange."

And Danish chamber of commerce director Brian Mikkelsen vowed that it would be rebuilt "no matter what".

The chamber, which currently occupies the building, described the scenes on Tuesday morning as a terrible sight.

The mayor of Copenhagen, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, together with six district mayors, said in their statement that rebuilding one of Copenhagen's best-known attractions required a joint effort.

"We will therefore reach out to the Danish chamber of commerce and enter into a dialogue about what we can do," they added.

"This is part of the story of the building of our city," Ms Andersen said, "and therefore we will do everything we can to rebuild this."

Firefighters drenched the building in water, inadvertently destroying priceless artwork

Officials say half the building is more or less burnt. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

The director of emergency services, Jakob Vedsted Andersen, said that officials were trying to fathom the extent of the damage.

Emergency services said the fire started early in the morning on Tuesday under the copper roof and ripped through the red-brick building. More than 100 firefighters battled to bring the flames under control.

They said that they were still working to secure the stability of the walls and monitoring undamaged areas.

The building has been undergoing renovation to celebrate its 400th anniversary, and the scaffolding around it made the firefighters' operation more difficult.

The iconic dragon spire was destroyed by the fire

Another factor that heightened the difficulty was the building's very structure. Officials said that because its roof was made of copper, water simply ran off it.

They said the fire was most intense around the tall tower.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told public broadcaster DR and it was painful to see "hundreds of years of history going up in flames."

King Frederik X said in a statement that the country had woken up to "a sad sight".

The building, a major tourist attraction, also housed historic paintings and furniture. Images from the scene showed several people carrying pieces of art to safe areas.

Denmark's culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, wrote on X that it was touching "to see how the employees at Børsen, good people from the emergency services and passers-by work together to rescue art treasures and iconic images from the burning building."