The main facade of the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange, ravaged by fire on Tuesday, collapsed on Thursday April 18 in the afternoon, as feared by the Danish emergency services. “Unfortunately, the facade along Frederiksholms Kanal collapsed,” the services wrote on X, specifying that no injuries were reported and that the area had been evacuated.
The structure collapsed towards the interior of the building with a huge rumble, according to Danish media images. Containers had been placed along this facade to support it. “There is a risk of further collapses,” warned Tim Ole Simonsen, the intervention manager of the Danish rescue services, during an impromptu press briefing.
It was the extreme heat and the collapse of other supporting parts that weakened the walls, he explained to journalists, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Work will resume inside the evacuated area, but the schedule and organization must be reviewed, he added. “We really hoped to be able to save the facades of this old building, but unfortunately we did not have time to install the anchors,” explained Jakob Vedsted Andersen, another rescue service official.
Uncertain crane
Emergency services announced at the start of the afternoon that a crane operation was to begin at midday on Friday in order to remove parts of the roof which had collapsed. However, firefighters were still at work on Thursday to put out the resurgent fires, more than forty-eight hours after the start of the fire. “The work continued (…), we put out a few small fires, mainly in the cellar,” they said in the middle of the day.
Half of this 17th century building was burned and the 54 meter high spire collapsed in the flames on Tuesday morning, for unknown reasons. Police investigators have not yet been able to access the site. “It may take several months before we get answers” about the causes of this disaster, the Danish police insisted on Wednesday.
A must-see building in Copenhagen, the Old Stock Exchange, which would celebrate its 400th anniversary this year, also houses an important collection of works of art, several hundred of which have been secured.
The arrow was particularly original because it was surrounded by four dragons whose tails curled into a spiral and were topped with three balls and three crowns symbolizing the three Nordic monarchies (Denmark, Norway, Sweden). Commissioned by King Christian IV, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange was built between 1619 and 1640, making it one of the oldest buildings in the Danish capital.
