Børsen ( Danish for "the Exchange"), also known as Børsbygningen ("The (Stock) Exchange building" in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

), is a 17th-century

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for t ...

in the center of Copenhagen. The historic building is situated next to

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Suprem ...

, the seat of the

Danish Parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands an ...

, on the island of

Slotsholmen Slotsholmen (English: The Castle Islet) is an island in the harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, and part of Copenhagen Inner City. The name is taken from the successive castles and palaces located on the island since Bishop Absalon constructed the c ...

. Børsen, a popular

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

, is most noted for its distinctive

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

, shaped as the tails of four

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

s twined together, reaching a height of 56 metres. Built under the reign of

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

in 1619–1640, the building is considered a leading example of the

Dutch Renaissance The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders). Culture in the Lo ...

style in Denmark. It is a protected building for conservation purposes.

History

Børsen was planned by

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 Christianshavn (literally, " ingChristian's Harbour") is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of th ...

, which was planned on reclaimed land off the coast of

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

. 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. 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 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. In 1647, Christian IV sold the building to the merchant Jacob Madsen for 50,000

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were ofte ...

. Frederick III later reacquired the building from Madsen's widow. The building was restored by

Nicolai Eigtved Nicolai Eigtved, also known as Niels Eigtved (4 June 1701 – 7 June 1754) was a Danish architect. He introduced and was the leading proponent of the French rococo or late baroque style in Danish architecture during the 1730s–1740s. He design ...

in 1745.

19th and 20th centuries

The interior of the building was renovated in 1855. In 1857, Frederick VII sold the building to Grosserer-Societetet for 70,000 rigsdaler. The building housed the Danish stock-market until 1974. In 1918, unemployed anarchists attacked Børsen, an attack that went to the Danish history books as "stormen på Børsen" (The Storm of the Stock Exchange).

Current use

The building now serves as headquarters of the

Danish Chamber of Commerce The Danish Chamber of Commerce (Danish: Dansk Erhverv) is the network for the service industry in Denmark and one of the largest professional business organisations in the country. It is headquartered in Børsen in Copenhagen and has additional o ...

(Dansk Erhverv).

Cultural references

* Børsen is the location where Holm-Hansen hands the Bedford Diamonds over to an Arabian sheik in the 1974 ''

Olsen-banden The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang ...

'' film ''

The Last Exploits of the Olsen Gang ''The Last Exploits of the Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-bandens sidste bedrifter) is a 1974 Danish comedy film directed by Erik Balling and starring Ove Sprogøe, Morten Grunwald, Poul Bundgaard and Kirsten Walther. This was the sixth film in the ...

''.

Gallery

Image:Børsen 1.jpg, Image:Børsen 3.jpg, Image:Børsen 2.jpg,

Notes