The Børsen visitor centre in Copenhagen has welcomed 50,000 people since opening on 26 February 2026, as public interest remains high in the reconstruction of one of the Danish capital’s best-known historic buildings after the devastating fire of April 2024.
The figure was announced by the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv), which owns Børsen and established the free visitor centre directly beside the reconstruction site. The exhibition, called Sammen om Børsen, allows visitors to follow the rebuilding work while learning about the building’s roughly 400-year history.
Why the Børsen visitor centre is attracting visitors
A central feature of the exhibition is a series of panoramic windows overlooking the construction site from first-floor level. Visitors can see the work taking place inside the damaged part of Børsen as craftspeople rebuild and restore the structure.
“It is particularly popular that, through the panoramic windows, you can look out over the construction site where the reconstruction of Børsen is taking place,” Morten Langager, director at Dansk Erhverv, told TV 2 Kosmopol.
The visitor centre consists of 15 connected containers and includes materials and objects linked to the building and its restoration, including sandstone decorations, bricks, copper and fire-damaged timber. A 60-metre timeline also traces Børsen’s commercial and architectural history.
The project was opened to the public in February and is expected to remain in place for three years while reconstruction continues. By mid-April, fewer than two months after opening, 15,000 people had already visited the exhibition.
What happened to Copenhagen’s Børsen
The original Børsen, one of Copenhagen’s oldest and most recognisable buildings, was commissioned under King Christian IV and completed in the early 17th century. Its most distinctive feature was the dragon spire, formed by the intertwined tails of four dragons.
On 16 April 2024, a major fire broke out while the building was undergoing restoration. Slightly more than half of Børsen burned, particularly the western section facing Christiansborg Palace Square, and the famous dragon spire collapsed during the fire.
Firefighters, police officers, soldiers and civilians helped remove artworks and other objects from the building. Among the works saved was P.S. Krøyer’s large 1895 painting From Copenhagen Stock Exchange (Fra Københavns Børs).
The precise cause of the fire was never established. After an extensive investigation, Copenhagen Police (Københavns Politi) closed the case in November 2024, saying there was no indication that the fire had resulted from a criminal act.
Rebuilding one of Copenhagen’s landmarks
Dansk Erhverv decided shortly after the fire that Børsen would be rebuilt. Parts of the eastern section that escaped the worst of the blaze have already returned to use, while work continues on the destroyed portion.
According to the current reconstruction timetable, the entire project is expected to be completed by the end of 2029. The dragon spire will also return as part of the reconstruction.
The visitor centre has meanwhile turned the long rebuilding process itself into a public exhibition. Its first 50,000 visitors suggest that the aftermath of the fire has created sustained interest not only in Børsen’s destruction, but also in how Copenhagen is reconstructing a landmark that has been part of the city for four centuries.
