Mayors of Copenhagen and Paris share insights gained from Notre Dame cathedral fires

The mayor of Copenhagen talked to the mayor of Paris to learn from the rebuilding of Notre Dame cathedral after a fire damaged a 400-year-old building in Copenhagen.

Firefighters were still at the place where a fire destroyed half of Copenhagen’s Old Stock Exchange, which was built in 1615, and caused its iconic dragon-tail spire to fall down, two days later.

The Danish Chamber of Commerce wants to rebuild the building they own, the Old Stock Exchange, where they are located. Thus far, no one has decided who will pay for a reconstruction project that would be very expensive and take a long time.

Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, the mayor of Copenhagen, talked to the Associated Press. She said she talked to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hildago, about how they are fixing the Notre Dame cathedral after it caught fire in April 2019. It will be finished this year.

Hildago shared helpful advice on how to work fast, how Paris managed donations, and the urgent restoration work that needs to be done, according to Hæstorp Andersen.

We have a big job ahead as we work to rebuild Boersen with the Danish Chamber of Commerce. “But we know this can be done fast,” she said, using the Danish name of the stock exchange building.

She said that Hildago asked a team from Denmark to come and meet the people working on rebuilding the spire of Notre Dame.

The fire on Tuesday started on the roof while the building was being fixed, but the cause is not known yet. The police have not been able to go inside the burned part of the building to find out what happened.

The firefighters are working to make the building safe. They think they will be there for one more day.

Some streets near the burned building, including a big road next to it, will stay closed until at least Monday, according to Danish media.

When the building caught on fire on Tuesday, people nearby, Chamber of Commerce workers, police and firefighters rushed inside to rescue valuable things. A lot of the important things in the building, like valuable paintings and other art, were rescued. One of the paintings was a big one from 1895 called “From Copenhagen Stock Exchange” by a Danish artist named P. SThe Chamber of Commerce said Krøyer.

The building has a green roof and a tall spire shaped like four dragon tails. It’s next to the Danish parliament and is famous for being a place to trade things.

The building is a great example of Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark. The Chamber of Commerce moved into the building after the stock exchange left in 1974.