Borsen fire: Denmark endures its own Notre Dame devastation

Alarm bells first rang out early on Tuesday morning as fire ripped through Copenhagen's historic former stock exchange building, Borsen.

In no time 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 Borsen, 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 Borsen

They climbed on each other's shoulders to pull down artworks mounted high up on walls. A hundred soldiers, museum conservators and even members of the public, joined the rescue effort.

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 Borsen on social media.

"I could see the flames," Resident Cheri Christiansen told me. "I burst into tears, because it's our heritage. 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 Ovro, who also lives nearby.

Neighbouring the Danish parliament, Borsen was built in 1625, by Christian IV, who was one of the country's most powerful monarchs, as a trading facility for Northern Europe.

Later, it served as a stock exchange until the mid-20th Century.

With its red bricks, teal-green copper roof and richly decorated interior, it was one of the few Renaissance buildings left in Copenhagen.

Outside parliament MP Henrik Moeller told me: "I think it's part of both Copenhagen and Denmark's identity."

"Of course there are comparisons with Notre-Dame. It's kind of the Danish Notre-Dame that we have experienced here."

France's famous cathedral is due to reopen again this December, after just five and a half years of restoration work, while the immediate vicinity will be redeveloped by 2028.

People react as the Borsen burns on Tuesday

Copenhagen's Mayor Sophie Haestorp Andersen told the BBC it was terrible to see 400 years of Danish history go up in flames.

"We have just lost a fundamental part of the city's soul and history," she said.

Ms Andersen is among those rallying to see Borsen rebuilt and has spoken with the Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to hear about Notre-Dame's restoration.

A team from Denmark is scheduled to visit the cathedral next month.

According to French newspaper Le Monde, about 250 companies and hundreds of skilled tradespeople and architects were involved, at a cost of $760m.

Kent Martinussen, Chief executive of the Danish Architecture Centre, said lessons could be learned from new 3D techniques and AI to help recreate older materials.

Like for like

From the square outside parliament, I spent Tuesday observing the orange flames and the billowing smoke that engulfed the stock exchange as fire crews armed with hoses battled the blaze.

You only see an incident like this once or twice in your career, Copenhagen's emergency services chief of operations Tim Ole Simonsen told the BBC.

"The fire was very intense in the beginning, spreading rapidly," he said.

The first images from inside showed torched and waterlogged rooms, strewn with charred timber and black ash.

Twisted scaffolding now stands precariously and large sections of the outer wall have collapsed, while 40 shipping containers filled with concrete have been placed around the ruins as supports.

"The walls are now very unstable," said Mr Simonsen, adding that extreme changes in temperature, drying and water saturation had weakened the structure.

Pockets of smouldering embers continue to burn and on Thursday I could still see smoke.

"There will be a lot of work until Monday morning, and then there'll be a review," he said.

Police have said it could take months to determine the cause of the fire.

Renovation work had been taking place over the last two years, readying for Borsen's 400th anniversary celebrations later this year.

The architect behind the restoration, Leif Hansen, told Danish newspaper Politiken that all the work had been lost, but he believed Borsen should be rebuilt. "It has to be and we can do it," he said.

Thanks to the restoration project, many of the building's features are well documented, Mr Hansen said, which will help.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited the site on Friday, thanking firefighters and voicing her support for the reconstruction. Architect Kent Martinussen said it could be done within five years.

Mr Mikkelsen wants the renovation to be faithful to the original. "For me, the vision is that we will build it like Christian IV built it," he said.

The work is expected to cost well over 1bn kroner (£115m; $143m). How that will paid for is yet to be determined and an insurance assessment is pending.

However some of Denmark's largest foundations and companies have already pledged large donations and the public response has been overwhelming, Mr Mikkelsen said.

"I have never in my life felt so much love from ordinary Danes. I've got a thousand emails," he added.