Europe live: fire breaks out at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange

“We are saving everything we possibly can,” a spokesperson for the fire department told reporters, Reuters reported.

Watch footage of the fire in Copenhagen:

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Firefighters spokesman Jakob Vedsted Andersen said the fire, which began this morning in the copper roof of the Old Stock Exchange, spread to much of the building and the roof, parts of which also collapsed, and destroyed the building’s interior, the AP reported.

Up to 90 members of an army unit were also deployed from a nearby base to cordon off the area and “secure valuables.”

As well as being a historic building in its own right, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange also holds one of Denmark’s most valuable collections of art, which rescue workers and volunteers scrambled to save from the flames this morning.

Most notably, the first-floor collection includes the iconic painting “From the Copenhagen Stock Exchange” by 19th-century Danish-Norwegian artist Peder Severin Krøyer. Photos from the site showed eight people, including one man wearing a cycling helmet, ushering the 254cm by 409cm painting to safety.

Finished in 1895, the painting shows a long line of stock exchange people in coattails standing in the building’s hall. It was paid for by the people portrayed in the picture, with those in the front row having paid 550 Danish crowns to be most visible and cheaper rates for those at the back. The artist was handsomely reimbursed, with the total fee amounting to the contemporary equivalent of around 1.55m Danish crowns.

Kasper Nielsen, of auction house Bruun Rasmussen, told Ekstra Bladet newspaper that Krøyer’s picture was worth millions of Danish crowns. “It is a piece of Danish history - both the architectural and the artworks”, he said. “If the entire Stock Exchange – God forbid – burns down, then we are looking at the loss of top-end, inalienable cultural heritage”

The painting is not the only piece of art of high value inside the Stock Exchange building. Nielsen told Ekstra Bladet that the total value of the collection amounted to hundreds of millions of Danish crows.

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Tobias, a reader, writes in: “I witnessed the very first moments of the fire at Børsen this morning.”

I cycled past the Børsen building with my kids on the way to school this morning at around 7:30 am. We heard the fire alarm going off in the building, but there was no smoke yet. Just a few moments later the first fire engines came rushing round the corner of Christiansborg Palace towards Børsen.

The main Copenhagen fire station is quite close so they were on the scene really fast. But only fifteen minutes later after I had dropped my kids off at school the fire was already huge and smoke was hanging over the city. The building didn’t stand a chance it seems. Everyone at work is quite upset today. It really is an iconic building for Copenhageners.

Here are more images from Copenhagen this morning.

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View image in fullscreen

The scaffolding around the Old Stock Exchange building made it harder for the emergency services to get through to the flames, while the copper roof was preserving the heat, the Copenhagen fire department said, Reuters reported.

The nearby finance ministry was evacuated.

Here’s more footage of the fire.

A huge fire has broken out at Copenhagen’s 17th-century former stock exchange, one of the Danish capital’s most famous landmarks, engulfing the historic building’s roof and toppling its distinctive spire.

People were seen rushing in and out of the building carrying works of art to safety and Danish media reported an annexe of the parliament had been evacuated. Police asked people to avoid driving in the inner part of the city.

Read the story here.

Anette, a reader in Denmark, writes in: “I woke up to the sad news of our beautiful renaissance stock exchange on fire. My favourite building in Copenhagen… It’s very emotional to many of us Danes. So terribly catastrophic.”

Another reader, Stine, writes: “An incredibly sad day! All over Copenhagen smoke can be seen.”

Simon, a reader, has sent in a photo of people carrying a painting in Copenhagen, after the Old Stock Exchange caught fire.

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Lara, a Brit who’s lived in Copenhagen for over 20 years, said she came out of the metro and saw the fire. “Absolutely heartbreaking. 400 years of history disappearing before your eyes,” she said.

She sent a photo:

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If you’re in Copenhagen, send your thoughts and comments to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.

“Our own Notre Dame moment,” said Denmark’s deputy prime minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, describing today’s fire.

400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames, wrote the country’s culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, adding that it is touching to see employees, emergency services, and passers-by working together to save art treasures and iconic images form the burning building.

Berlingske has published footage of the fire

Here are the latest images from Copenhagen.

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View image in fullscreen

A fire has broken out at Copenhagen’s iconic Old Stock Exchange, engulfing its spire, which has collapsed.

“We are met with a terrible sight. The Bourse is on fire. Everyone is asked to stay away,” the Danish Chamber of Commerce, which uses the building as its headquarters, wrote on social media. At this stage there are no reports of any injuries.