Østerlarsker Parish, Bornholm, Denmark Genealogy

Church Records

 * Church records are available on microfilm in the FamilySearch Library. See catalog entry.
 * An online index to pre-1814 parish register entries for Bornholm parishes is available at www.kirkebog.dk.   When you are on the site use the drop down menu following the word Sogn: [parish] and choose "Osterlars".  Choose the type of record you would like to search [or "Alle" to see entries for all categories, i.e., Baptisms, Burials, Engagements, Confessions, Introductions, Confirmations, Other, and Communions]; enter the name of the person you would like to locate.  Fornavn = given name; Efternavn = last name.    For example: By typing the surname or last name "Sonne" in the "Efternavn" position, you will be given a list of entries in which the name Sonne occurs.   In the early records names are very flexible.  Try using various combinations to discover all entries.  The page number in the original parish register is given so you can examine the records and find additional information.

Family Histories:
Bidstrup, Julius. .

Land Records

 * Axel Rasmussen was the parish priest over Østerlars and Gudhjem parishes from 1907 until his death in 1926 and also dean over the eastern Bornholm deanery from 1909 until his death. He collected information relating to various topics concerning  Østerlars parish.  One of his collections has been published in Bornholmske Samlinger, Volume 39.  This publication contains a list of owners of the different farms in Østerlars parish.  What Axel Rasmussen did not accomplish regarding this topic before his death was accomplished by Kr. Kure, Copenhagen, and W. Kovgaard from Østerlars main school. The purpose of this book is not to give genealogies nor correct pedigrees, but to give light to which farms had family connections and which farms were just business farms with no personal interests.  The sources used in this publication are:


 * 1) The official priest's tithing list from 1825 to the dissolving of the tithing in 1908.
 * 2) The main office of mortgages to find all long-term and short-term owners of the different farms. Those documents are usually very accurate from the year 1825 (some of the owners are still missing for some of the very short term mortgages because they were not recorded).
 * 3) From 1798-1818 the Panteprotokol [mortgage records] from "Østre Herred" have been used and have been studied very closely. In these records the respective owners are listed as well as the name of his wife and the sum of money used for purchase.  Also the former owner is mentioned and who later purchased the farm.  Usually relationships are mentioned if the farm was sold within the family.
 * 4) No real family connections can be drawn from year to year before 1798. The by Julius Bidstrup has been used for some early connections.
 * 5) Birth, marriages, and death records have been used after the year 1814.

In the parish in addition to "Lensgaarden" there are 49 selvejer (self-owned) farms and 22 Vornede gaarde (not completely self-owned) - in all 72 farms. In 42 of the farms it can be proven that there were family connections. In 10 of the farms there was a continuous family relationship. Namely, for these selvejer farms: 1, 2, 4, 6, and 33; and of the Vornede gaarde Nos. 5, 9, 19, 21, 22, 17, and 6.

Probate Records:
Some probate records have been transcribed and are available online. A sample probate records that has been transcribed and translated is available here.

HammershusBirk 1685-1742.

Book 1: Skifteuddrag Bornholms Landsogne 1681-1683.

Book 2: Skifteuddrag Bornholms Landsogne Jan 1684-17 Sept 1685.

Book 3: Skifteuddrag Bornholms Landsogne 30 Aug 1686-4 Nov 1690.

Tax Records
The farm tenancy taxation book for 1657 has been transcribed and is available at this link. Additional parishes in Bornholm are also included.

The farm tenancy taxation book for 1661 has been transcribed at this link.

The farm tenancy taxation book for 1668 has been transcribed at this link.

Websites
Many records in Denmark, including Bornholm and Østerlars parish have been extracted and names appear in the International Genealogical Index. You may also check this Danish sitefor an easy search of parishes that have been extracted.