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Today it is exactly 100 years ago Copenhagen Central Station opened.
and on this occasion our reporter Kathrine Krone has been exploring its secret recesses.
The Central Station as we know it.
Every day more than 90,000 people rush through the vaulted halls
and across the nearly 7,700 square meters quirky tiled floor.
But today we’ve been given permission to see the places that only few people know about.
Inspector Birger Hansen is our guide.
Being employed here for over 32 years, he knows all the secrets of the Central Station.
And then both the DSB and crown and 1911
Yeah, and nice brass handles, right? Walk right in, young lady.
We better get into the secret chambers.
Here you have the royal waiting hall.
So they sit over there?
Then they have opportunity to sit over there, yes.
If I take off my shoes, can I go in?
Yeah, I think that’s okay.
Can I try sitting in this one?
Yes you may.
Birger, are you allowed to smoke in here?
No. Once it was allowed
but since then the station has gradually been getting
smoke detectors and fire alarms everywhere
and also here in the royal waiting hall.
What does the queen do then?
She waits until she gets inside her own Pullman car.
Have you sat in this chair?
No... I have not
It's good. And noble.
Birger you say this isn’t the only waiting room.
No it is true we have a floor underneath as well.
Downstairs?
Yes.
Yes, you are approaching it.
That fireplace…
Yes
I have heard something about a secret exit
That's right. It's so you can come out through the fireplace
and vanish out into Copenhagen.
Not immediately because you need to tear down the brick wall,
so you can get away through the sewers.
Can I try opening?
But there is opportunity - through wall and so on,
to get into drains, and come out that way.
I can see that. There’s a handle there.
And on the other side is the outer wall.
And so it is bricked up there?
Yes, and then out to the outer brick wall that is slightly weaker on that place,
because of the ability to obtain access.
And that's secret, right?
That’s secret
Birger, on a scale from 1 to 10. How secret is this place?
I would say it's secret, secret.
It's a 10!
Yes it is.
Then you go out here and here is yet another red carpet.
This is the platform located right by the building.
And here one is allowed to smoke. Just at this moment.
But this is the place we all know actually. So here is the queen also sometimes.
Yes. Here the queen comes as well.
Shall we go down to the next secret place?
Let’s do a little exercise down this way because it lies out here.
And since dawn of the days this has been used by the Postal and Telegraph services.
And the building up there, it's post -
It is the post office!
Yes, it was designed by the same architect.
Now as you can see it’s descending, so we go into the depths.
I better take this on.
What we are entering now is
what was originally a tunnel belonging to the Postal and Telegraph service.
So they could come from the main post office to the various platforms
and deliver and collect mail.
It goes all the way to Ingerslevsgade.
…Those films were destroyed by moisture and salt, but…
That's just the trains.
It’s very loud down here. How secret is this place?
Hmm, secret, secret, well...
To those who don’t know about it, it’s secret.
But that’s just sheer ignorance that they do not know.
On a scale of 10? 4
Only a 4? Why?
Because there are still many old employees who knows about it.
Right. Let’s try to walk a little further.
Down here a special spider species was once found.
Originating from Italy it was probably brought here by train.
There are rumors about a secret passage going all the way to Christiansborg Palace,
but whether it exists or not, Birger cannot confirm nor deny.
In the old days one could see when the Tivoli Gardens closed.
Then there weren’t any place for the rats to feed, so they migrated.
So we had many rats a month to a month and a half after Tivoli closed.
How big is the biggest rat you've seen on the Central Station.
It was probably this long. And then half the thickness, I guess.
That’s a cat?
Yes, you could compare it to that size wise.
Yuk, how disgusting!
Kathrine Krone continues her tour of the Central Station tomorrow,
where she for instance gets to see a secret apartment that turned up on one of the platforms.
And also tomorrow morning from 6:30,
there will be free coffee and croissants to the first 1,000 people.