Copenhagen stunned by devastating stock exchange fire, as police launch probe into blaze

By Rob Picheta and Louis Mian, CNN

(CNN) — Police launched an investigation Wednesday into the fire that tore through Copenhagen’s famous stock exchange building, causing the collapse of its spire and damaging centuries-old artwork and architecture.

The blaze was still burning on Wednesday afternoon, more than 24 hours after it began, and authorities and citizens in the Danish capital have started reckoning with the loss of one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.

Local firefighters continued to try to put out the fire, which ripped through the building – known locally as Børsen – from early Tuesday, reaching all its floors and causing the collapse of a dragon-tail spire that had long been a symbol of the city.

The walls of the building are still standing, but the interior has been significantly damaged and the roof is partially collapsed. Firefighters used cranes to hose water down into the building.

Copenhagen police meanwhile launched an investigation on Wednesday, which they said will be a “complicated process.” Police officer Brian Belling said authorities have already “conducted interviews, secured surveillance and carried out a large number of investigative steps.”

“But of course, there is still a lot to do, especially as we have not yet had the opportunity to examine Børsen itself,” Belling added.

The 17th century building exemplified the style of the Dutch Renaissance, and housed a number of artworks, some of which were saved on Tuesday.

Residents were stunned by the outbreak, which brought back memories of the fire that tore through the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris exactly five years and a day earlier.

“My first thought was (that) I hope that they rebuild it – it’s never going to be the same but it’s iconic to Copenhagen and Denmark,” teacher Eva Simoni Lomholdt, 58, told Reuters.

Brian Mikkelsen, the CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce which owns the building, told the news agency that a firefighter gave him the top of the spire on Wednesday morning after it was recovered following its fall.

“It gives me hope because we have decided to rebuild the stock exchange because it’s part of European history as a trading continent,” he said.

The old stock exchange – located only a few minutes walk from Christiansborg Palace – dates back to 1625. It was built in the Dutch Renaissance style at the request of King Christian IV and had recently been undergoing renovations with its facade covered in scaffolding and protective coverings.

It has been at the heart of Danish business since then; while it no longer houses the Danish stock exchange, it serves as the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday a “piece of Danish history” was on fire, calling the building “irreplaceable.”

Denmark’s culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt added that 400 years of cultural heritage had been damaged.

“How touching it is 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,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

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CNN’s Stephanie Halasz, Antonia Mortensen and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed reporting.