The Holmen disaster

What to know

As it occurred on November 23, 1951 The fire department was in the process of extinguishing a fire when the burning building suddenly exploded and thousands of windows were shattered on Amager. Late in the evening, the residents of Amager heard a huge bang. 11 sea mines with a total of 4.5 tons of explosives had exploded on Holmen, and 16 people lost their lives.11 of the deceased were firefighters who had not been warned about the danger of explosion by the security personnel at Naval Station Copenhagen. Historian Sune Wadskjær Nielsen has written a book about the disaster, and discusses the years leading up to, as well as the hours and minutes before, the devastating explosion. - Date: 23 November 2026 - Time: 19:00–21:00 - Venue: Solvang Bibliotek - Address: Remisevej 14, Copenhagen S, Denmark - Admission: From DKK 75