Børsen
This article may be affected by the following current event: 2024 Børsen fire. Information in this article may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (April 2024) |
Børsen | |
---|---|
General information | |
Architectural style | Dutch renaissance |
Town or city | Copenhagen |
Country | Denmark |
Coordinates | DK-84 55°40′32″N 12°35′2″E / 55.67556°N 12.58389°E |
Construction started | 1619 |
Completed | 1640 |
Renovated | 1745 1855 |
Client | Christian IV |
Owner | Danish Chamber of Commerce |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Lorentz and Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) | Nicolai Eigtved (1745) Harald Conrad Stilling (1855) |
Børsen (Danish for "the Bourse"), also known as Børsbygningen ("The Bourse building"), is a 17th-century stock exchange in the centre of Copenhagen. The historic building is situated next to Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament, on the island of Slotsholmen.
Built under the reign of Christian IV in 1619–1640, the building is considered a leading example of the Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark. It is a protected building for conservation purposes.[1]
Børsen, a popular tourist attraction, was most noted for its distinctive spire, shaped as the tails of four dragons twined together, reaching a height of 56 m (184 ft). On 16 April 2024, the building was severely damaged by a fire, which toppled the spire.[2]
History
Børsen was planned by Christian IV as part of his plan to strengthen Copenhagen's role as a centre for trade and commerce in Northern Europe. A site on the north side of the embankment which connected Copenhagen to the new market town Christianshavn, which was planned on reclaimed land off the coast of Amager. The king charged Lorenz van Steenwinckel with the design of the new building, but Steenwinckel died shortly thereafter. The assignment was then passed on to his brother, Hans van Steenwinckel.[3]
The site first had to be prepared since the embankment had not yet stabilized. Construction of the building began in 1620 and was largely completed in 1624 with the exception of the spire (installed in 1625) and details of the east gable (completed in 1640). The dragons that made up the spire, designed by the fireworks master of Christian IV, were supposed to protect the building from enemies and fire.[4] The building contained 40 trading offices at the ground floor and one large room at the upper floor. The building was in use as a marketplace during the late 1620s.[3]
In 1647, Christian IV sold the building to the merchant Jacob Madsen for 50,000 Danish rigsdaler.[5] Frederick III later reacquired the building from Madsen's widow, who could no longer afford to maintain the building.[3]
The building was restored by Nicolai Eigtved in 1745.[6]
19th and 20th centuries
The interior of the building was renovated in 1855, and the interior was renovated by architect Harald Conrad Stilling.[7] In 1857, Frederick VII sold the building to Grosserer-Societetet[4] for 70,000 rigsdaler.[5]
The building housed the Danish stock-market until 1974. In 1918, unemployed anarchists attacked Børsen, an attack that went into the Danish history books as stormen på Børsen (Storm on the Stock Exchange).[8]
21st century
As of 2018, the building serves as the headquarters of the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv).[9]
2024 fire
On the morning of 16 April 2024, fire spread throughout the building, resulting in the collapse of its iconic Dragespir (translated: Dragon Spire).[10][11] The fire happened during renovation work in the main building's copper roof, with the cause still being unknown. About half of the building was destroyed by the afternoon.[12] he scaffolding around the building that also caught fire made it harder for the firefighters.[13][14] With additional machinery the roof was removed, as it was stopping water from reaching the fire.[13] The facades were in danger of collapsing as the fire burned,[14] since the building is mostly made of wood.[15]
There were no casualties.[16] Historic paintings[16] and historic furniture,[13] were rescued from the burning building by staff, emergency workers, nearby National Museum employees[14] and passers-by.[17] Among them were From Copenhagen Stock Exchange by Peder Severin Krøyer and Det danske handelskammer komite og adm. direktør 1995 by Thomas Kluge.[18][19]
Brian Mikkelsen, CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce owning the building, said that it would be rebuilt.[15] The fire was compared to the Notre-Dame fire five years earlier.[13]
Cultural references
- Børsen is the location where Holm-Hansen hands the Bedford Diamonds over to an Arabian sheik in the 1974 Olsen-banden film The Last Exploits of the Olsen Gang.[20]
See also
- Nasdaq Copenhagen
- Slotsholmsgade
- Danish Brotherhood in America Headquarters
- Construction and renovation fires
- List of building or structure fires
- List of destroyed heritage
References
- ^ "Sag: Børsen". Fredede og bevaringsværdige bygninger. Kulturstyrelsen. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "LIVE Brand i Børsen i København". DR (in Danish). 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ a b c "The History". Børsbygningen. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ a b Børsbygningen.dk, ejet af Dansk Erhverv – The Danish Chamber of Commerce Archived 2018-07-20 at the Wayback Machine hentet 8. maj 2021
- ^ a b Green, Theodor (2019). Børsen i København. Lindhardt og Ringhof. ISBN 978-8726296501.
- ^ "Hvor langt skal man spole tilbage?". www.arkitektforeningen.dk. Arkitektforeningen – Danish Association of Architects. 14 March 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ G. F. Hetsch (1 January 1928). "To Breve fra Architekten, Professor G. F. Hetsch til Architekten H. C. Stilling [1815-1891]. Meddelt af Gustav Hetsch". Personalhistorisk Tidsskrift (in Danish): 4–13. ISSN 0300-3655. Wikidata Q107323506.
- ^ "Børsen, Stormen på (1918)" (in Danish). Leksikon.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ "Danish Chamber of Commerce". www.danskerhverv.dk. Danish Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Børsen i København står i brand: '400 års kulturarv i flammer'" (in Danish). Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Børsen står i flammer: Det ikoniske dragetårn er kollapset" (in Danish). Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Fire destroys Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange dating to 1600s, collapsing its dragon-tail spire". Associated Press. 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d Halasz, Stephanie; Mortensen, Antonia; Said-Moorhouse, Lauren (16 April 2024). "Spire collapses after fire rips through Copenhagen's old stock exchange". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Brady, Kate (16 April 2024). "Fire consumes Copenhagen's 400-year-old stock market building". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ a b Milne, Richard (16 April 2024). "Denmark's historic stock exchange goes up in flames". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ a b Kirby, Paul (16 April 2024). "Historic Copenhagen stock exchange in Denmark goes up in flames". BBC. BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Copenhagen's historic stock exchange in flames". 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024 – via www.bbc.com.
- ^ "Særligt maleri reddet ud af brændende Børsen". TV2 ØST (in Danish). 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Historisk P.S. Krøyer-maleri reddes ud fra brændende Børsen". TV 2 (Denmark) (in Danish). TV 2 (Denmark). 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Film 6 Olsen Bandens sidste bedrifter / Der (voraussichtlich) letzte Streich der Olsenbande". olsenbande-homepage.de (in German). Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
External links
- Media related to Børsen at Wikimedia Commons
- Current events from April 2024
- 1640 establishments in Denmark
- Brick buildings and structures in Denmark
- Buildings and structures completed in 1640
- Buildings and structures in Copenhagen
- Financial history of Denmark
- Renaissance architecture in Copenhagen
- Stock exchange buildings
- Tourist attractions in Copenhagen
- Slotsholmen
- Burned buildings and structures in Europe