Gørlev Parish, Holbæk, Denmark Genealogy

Guide to Gørlev, Holbæk, Denmark ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

History
The countryside around Gørlev - and Kalundborg Municipality in general -, is home to a number of interesting prehistoric sites, including Stone Age passage graves and various Bronze Age mounds. The passage grave of Rævehøj (Fox-hill) near the hamlet of Dalby, is known for its rare rock carvings. As many other stone age constructions, it was also used throughout the Bronze Age as well.

In Gørlev Church's entryway are two Viking Age runestones, Gørlevstenene (The Gørlev Stones), showing the entire runic alphabet known as the younger futhark. The first runestone is dated to the early 9th century, and was found on the spot in May 1921 by a bricklayer working at the church. The second runestone is dated to c. 1000, and was found in 1965 under the church tower. The only runestones in Denmark more significant than these are the Jelling stones, erected by King Harold Bluetooth c. 965 in the town of Jelling, the old Viking capital of Scandinavia.

The nearby marshlands of Maglemose, also known as Mullerup Mose (Mullerup Marsh), is a large wetland area, which includes the lake of Tissø. Here, archaeological evidence of international importance was excavated in the years 1900 and 1902, revealing and defining the Mullerup or Maglemosian Culture that roamed Northern Europe in the Mesolithic Stone Age. They used Maglemose and the surrounding area as a summer camp for hunting and fishing. Maglemose is the oldest site of its type in the Nordic countries, and the findings bettered the understanding of the Nordic Stone Age cultures and Denmark's earliest history in particular. Two memorials commemorate the discovery site. 

The priest's farmhouse in Gørlev burned on 7 July 1762. Nevertheless parish records still survive as early as 1680 for both Gørløse and its annex, Bakkendrup.

Place Names
Gørlev, Gørlev Mose, Gørlev, Lb., Jødeland, Kvægsholm, Lunden ved Tissø, Ornum, Ornum, Hse., Rye, Rye Mark, Rye Mose, Rye, Lb., Slibestenen, Ulstrup, Ågerup Mølle, Ågaard, Ågaard, Hgd.

To see what kind of place it is you will need a Danish Gazetteer.


 * Surrounding Parishes

Birth, Marriage, and Death Online Records

 * Free Online Database: 


 * The vast majority of research you do in Denmark will be in church parish registers, which are held in the Danish State Archives available online at ARKIVALIERONLINE. Select your county and parish from the drop-down lists.


 * Help Reading Danish Records:


 * Denmark Parish Register Headings provides translated examples of parish headings. You will be able to interpret much of what is in the records using these headings. Danish Word List covers typical  terms found in the records. Fixed and Moveable Feast Days for: Denmark will help you translate dates written in feast day form. Denmark surnames are patronymic and change every generation, so carefully study Denmark Names, Personal.


 * Help Reading Old Handwriting: 


 * FamilySearch offers free online lessons about reading old Danish handwriting:
 * Scandinavian Handwriting
 * Scandinavian Handwriting, part 3 - No part 2 available
 * Gothic Script and examples (Danish)
 * Gothic script help links (Danish)


 * Knowing What to Look for Next:


 * To understand the best research strategies for these records, see Denmark Church Records Christenings Guide.

Collections

 * Church Records
 * Kirkebøger - Getting Started
 * Find church books on Arkivalieronline
 * Denmark Church Records
 * Census Records
 * ARKIVALIERONLINE Census records online
 * Censuses - Getting Started
 * Denmark Census
 * Census digitization/index availability - chart showing progress in census digitizing and indexing per location.
 * Court Records
 * Danish Chancellery - Getting Started!
 * Danish Chancery Court Records
 * Denmark Court Records
 * Military Records
 * Lægdsruller, Danish Military Levying Rolls, is a census of men eligible to join military (1789-1932)
 * What's on Lægdsruller and Søruller
 * Danish Military Levying Rolls (Lægdsruller)


 * Probate Records
 * Registers of Wills in the Danish Chancellory
 * Danish Chancellery - Getting Started!
 * , index and images.

Related Sources
Denmark Online Genealogy Records Ask the Community

FamilySearch Library Records
Click Denmark, Holbæk Records for a full listing of records at the FamilySearch Librarythat may be digitized. Check back occasionally to see if your records have become available. In the meantime, some of them might be available at a FamilySearch Center near you. Click on "Places within Denmark, Holbæk" and then select your parish.