Spire of iconic old Copenhagen stock exchange collapses in fire

The iconic spire of Copenhagen’s old stock exchange collapsed in a fire that engulfed the building on the morning of Tuesday the 16^th of April 2024.

Furthermore, the old stock exchange building was originally constructed during the early 17^th century for King Christian IV and was later sold to the Danish Chamber of Commerce in 1857.

Architecturally, the building was a leading example of the Dutch Renaissance style for Denmark, and it was topped out in 1625 with the installation of its iconic spire.

The spire depicted the intertwined tails of four dragons, which were designed by the fireworks master of Christian IV, and were meant to protect the building and the gold it would house from trade.

On top of the spire’s four dragon tails rested three crowns, which symbolized the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

King Frederik X of Denmark characteristically said about it that “For generations, the characteristic dragon spire has helped to characterise Copenhagen as the 'city of towers'.”

Some people were present in the building when the fire broke out but were evacuated on time and nobody got harmed.

At the time that the fire broke out, the building was clad in scaffolding and was undergoing renovations, something that hampered the work of emergency services.

In addition to this, its copper roof also made the firefighters’ work more difficult by trapping the heat within the building.

Much weight was given to saving the precious artifacts that were inside the old stock exchange, while a spokesperson of the Danish fire service said that they managed to save one half of the building.

As for the half that got destroyed, its outer shell is still standing but is at risk of collapsing and a plan was formed to use 40 shipping containers to stabilize it.

The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, but the police said they would carry on an investigation as soon as they can enter the flaming building.

The country’s defense minister, Troels Lind Poulsen wrote on X/twitter that the event is their own Notre-Dame moment.