Thursday, September 4, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Fire ravages Copenhagen’s cultural landmark Børsen

Published 16 April 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Copenhageners witnessed the fall of the famous 'Dragon spire'.
2 minute read

The iconic Børsen building is in flames, with large sections reportedly completely destroyed. The fire is described as “very, very large”, including the collapse of the building’s famous spire, and work to extinguish the fire is expected to take all day.

Børsen is located on Slotsholmen in Copenhagen and is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It was built between 1619 and 1623 by Lorenz and Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger for Christian IV as a visualization of the king’s mercantilist policies. The building’s iconic spire, called the ‘Dragon Spire’, was completed in 1625. Today it serves as an office building and the headquarters of one of the country’s largest business and employer organizations, Dansk Erhverv.

The first alarm about the fire came at 07:43 this morning and large parts of the area were quickly cordoned off. The fire is said to be so large that it can be seen from Sweden.

– It is a very, very big fire. It requires an effort that will take most of the day. We’re doing our best to minimize the damage, Jakob Vedsted Andersen, head of the emergency response at Hovedstadens Beredskab, told Danish TV2.

All the people in the building have reportedly been evacuated and no one has been injured.

– We are currently carrying out extensive extinguishing work. There are no personal injuries. There is extensive damage to the stock exchange, says Vedsted Andersen.

“400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames”

Moments later, Copenhageners saw the building’s iconic spire collapse before their eyes. Citizens are said to have chanted “no, no, no, no, no” as the flames destroyed the famous spire.

“People are standing in shock, covering their mouths”, the broadcaster said.

Several people are said to have braved the fire to run in and save valuable art, according to Danish state broadcaster DR. Among others, former minister and CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce Brian Mikkelsen was seen running into the building. Several paintings were reportedly carried out of the building, including Skagen painter P.S. Krøyer’s “Fra Københavns Børs,” an 1895 painting depicting many of the most important stock exchange figures of the time standing in the trading room, including businessman C.F. Tietgen.

“Terrifying pictures from Børsen this morning. 400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames”, writes Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt on X.

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Danish media: American agents infiltrating Greenland

Donald Trump's USA

Published 28 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that Greenland should become American.
3 minute read

At least three Americans with ties to President Donald Trump are conducting influence operations in Greenland aimed at undermining the relationship between Denmark and Greenland.

The men are mapping Trump-friendly Greenlanders and gathering information that could be used to damage Denmark’s reputation, according to sources speaking to Danish media.

Actors with direct connections to the White House are conducting systematic attempts to infiltrate Greenlandic society. The goal is to create a pro-American independence movement and weaken ties to Denmark, reveal several anonymous sources with insight into the matter to Danish public broadcaster DR.

One of the men, who has often been seen publicly with President Trump and recently received a role with influence over US security policy, landed earlier this year in snow-covered Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, with a clear mission. He established lists of both Trump sympathizers and opponents among Greenlandic citizens, it is reported.

At the same time, he is said to have collected material about controversial Danish affairs – such as forced removals of Greenlandic children and the so-called spiral affair where Danish doctors inserted contraceptives into Greenlandic women without consent.

— What we see is the use of soft power, influence and attempts to create internal division, says a source to the channel.

Danish security service confirms influence campaigns

Both Danish authorities and the country’s government are now closely monitoring the Americans’ movements on the Arctic island. Two of the men, both with backgrounds in the Trump administration, have regularly traveled between the US and Greenland in recent years to build networks among politicians and businessmen.

— We are all worried about this. Of course we are, confirms a government source.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) also confirms that Greenland is being subjected to influence campaigns and that they are in “ongoing and close dialogue with the Greenlandic authorities about developments in the threat picture”.

According to PET’s assessment, the campaigns aim to “create division in the relationship between Greenland and Denmark” by exploiting real or fabricated conflicts.

American strategy in three phases

Sources within the government describe the Trump administration’s Greenland strategy as divided into three distinct phases since the president declared in December 2024 that American “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity”.

First came the charm offensive, symbolized by Donald Trump Jr.’s high-profile visit to Nuuk in January. This was followed by pressure on Denmark, when Vice President J.D. Vance visited the American Pituffik base in March and accused Denmark of betraying the Greenlanders. Now the strategy is in its third phase according to sources: infiltration of Greenlandic society.

One source warns that the summer’s calmer activity may be misleading:

— Perhaps what we are experiencing right now is the calm before the storm. And perhaps the fewer activities in Greenland are an expression that professional institutions have begun to operate, which they will be better at hiding, he speculates.

Concerns were heightened after the Wall Street Journal’s reporting in May that American intelligence services had been ordered to intensify espionage in Greenland, focusing on the independence movement and mapping Trump sympathizers.

Sensitive for Denmark

The American activities also place Danish power holders in a delicate position. While they want to alert Greenlanders to the influence attempts and prevent them, they are simultaneously concerned for political reasons about not being perceived as interfering in Greenland’s internal affairs.

— Greenlanders are welcome to work for independence, and the US is welcome to invest and work for stronger ties to Greenland, explains one source, but emphasizes that there are limits that must not be crossed.

— No one is allowed to spy – not even the Americans.

The White House has declined to comment on the allegations from Danish media, and the US embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark refers to the fact that “the American government does not control or direct the actions of private citizens” and that they “respect the Greenlandic people’s right to determine their own future”.

Danish students build drone that flies and swims

Published 18 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

Four students at Aalborg University in Denmark have developed a revolutionary drone that seamlessly transitions between air and water. The prototype uses innovative rotor technology that automatically adapts to different environments.

Four students at Aalborg University in Denmark have created something that sounds like science fiction – a drone that can literally fly down into water, swim around and then jump back up into the air to continue flying, reports Tom’s Hardware.

Students Andrei Copaci, Pawel Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Sierocki and Mikolaj Dzwigalo have developed a prototype as their thesis project that demonstrates how future amphibious drones could function. The project has attracted attention from technology media after a demonstration video showed the drone flying over a pool, crashing down into the water, navigating underwater and then taking off into the air again.

Intelligent rotor technology solves the challenge

The secret behind the impressive performance lies in what the team calls a “variable rotor system”. The individual rotor blades can automatically adjust their pitch angle depending on whether the drone is in air or water.

When the drone flies through the air, the rotor blades work at a higher angle for optimal lift capacity. Underwater, the blade pitch is lowered to reduce resistance and improve efficiency during navigation. The system can also reverse thrust to increase maneuverability when the drone moves through tight passages underwater.

Most components in the prototype have been manufactured by the students themselves using 3D printers, since equivalent parts were not available on the market.

Although the project is still in an early concept stage and exists only as a single prototype, it demonstrates the possibilities for future amphibious vehicles. The technology could have applications in everything from rescue operations to environmental monitoring where vehicles need to move both above and below the water surface.

Controversial mermaid statue removed: “Ugly and pornographic”

Published 6 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The statue weighs 14 tons and has been described by critics as "vulgar" and "pornographic".
2 minute read

The debate about how the female body should be portrayed in public art has flared up again in Denmark. The background is authorities’ decision to remove the sculpture Den store havfrue – the large mermaid – from its place in public space after accusations that the statue is pornographic or promotes harmful beauty ideals.

The attention-grabbing sculpture was erected in 2006 at Langelinie Pier in Copenhagen, Denmark, not far from the much more famous statue The Little Mermaid, inspired by H.C. Andersen’s fairy tale.

But Den store havfrue, which measures 4 by 6 meters and weighs 14 tons, was met with early criticism – not least from feminist quarters. In the complaints, the mermaid is described as, among other things, “fake and vulgar”, and it was moved in 2018 to Dragør fortress.

In March this year, the Danish Agency for Palaces and Cultural Properties decided that the statue may no longer stand in public space. The authority believes that the artwork is not compatible with the cultural heritage that The Little Mermaid from 1910 represents.

Art critic Mathias Kryger, working at Danish newspaper Politiken, has described the statue as “ugly and pornographic”. Priest and journalist Sorine Gotfredsen has in turn argued that the sculpture is directly harmful to women’s mental health.

“Erecting a statue of a man’s hot dream of how a woman should look hardly promotes women’s acceptance of their own bodies”, she wrote in a text in Danish newspaper Berlingske.

The original – “The Little Mermaid” by Edvard Eriksen. Photo: Avda-Berlin/CC BY-SA 3.0

Artist defends his work

Others, however, oppose the decision to remove the statue, and Berlingske’s debate editor Aminata Corr Thrane wonders if “naked women’s breasts must have a specific academic form and size to be allowed to be shown publicly”.

Corr Thrane notes that Den store havfrue is actually “possibly a little less naked” than its famous counterpart, but adds that she “on the other hand has larger breasts, and that’s probably where the problem lies”.

The sculpture’s creator, artist Peter Bech, is puzzled by the criticism. He defends the work and says that the mermaid’s breasts are “proportional to its scale”. Bech created the statue as a response to recurring comments from tourists that the classic mermaid was too small.

Now he hopes to find a solution for the sculpture to remain in Copenhagen – albeit in a new location.

Denmark moving away from Microsoft

Digital freedom

Published 16 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Too much public digital infrastructure has been linked to very few foreign actors, explains Danish Digital Minister Caroline Stage about why Denmark is now moving away from Microsoft in favor of free and more cost-effective alternatives.
1 minute read

Denmark’s digital ministry has begun a transition during the summer from Microsoft’s word processor Office 365 to the free alternative LibreOffice, with a complete transition expected to be completed during the fall. They will also abandon Microsoft Windows in favor of Linux.

The change is explained by Denmark’s goal to strengthen its digital sovereignty, as well as ensuring that control over sensitive data and systems remains in national ownership.

With this move, Denmark is following in the footsteps of the neighboring German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which is in the process of converting 30,000 public computers from Microsoft to Linux-based and free solutions.

“It is not about isolation or digital nationalism. We should not turn our backs completely on global technology companies; many of them provide solutions that we benefit from. This applies both today and in the future.

But we must never make ourselves so dependent on so few that we can no longer act freely. Too much public digital infrastructure is currently tied up with very few foreign suppliers. This makes us vulnerable. Also, financially”, says Danish Digital Minister Caroline Stage on LinkedIn about the project, which is reported by Danish newspaper Politiken, among others.

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