Denmark Maps

Maps are an important source to locate the places where your ancestors lived. They help you see the neighboring towns and geographic features of the area your ancestor came from. Maps locate places, parishes, churches, geographical features, transportation routes, and proximity to other towns.

Maps may be published individually or in bound collections called atlases. Maps may also be included in gazetteers, guidebooks, local histories, and history texts.

Different types of maps can help you in different ways. Historical atlases describe the growth and development of countries. They show boundaries, migration routes, settlement patterns, military campaigns, and other historical information. Road atlases provide detailed information about the Danish road systems. Other types of maps include parish maps, county atlases, and topographical maps. Ordinance survey maps show land plats in great detail, sometimes up to one-half an inch to the mile. City street maps are extremely helpful when researching in large cities, such as København (Copenhagen).

Here are some useful maps for general reference:

Also see the map from Research Guidance

Using Maps
Maps must be used carefully for several reasons:


 * Several places often have the same name. For example, three parishes are called Gudum in present-day Denmark.
 * The spelling and even names of some towns may have changed since your ancestors lived there. Some localities have different names in different languages. For example, the town presently known as Haderslev was named Hadersleben before 1920.
 * Originally a parish may have covered an entire city and the surrounding rural area. As the city's population increased, the parish split, making the high-concentration city its own parish. "Landsogn" or "rural parish" is then used to designate that there are two neighboring parishes with the same name -- one urban and one the spun-off rural parish.
 * Place-names are often misspelled in American sources. Difficult names may have been shortened and important diacritic marks omitted. For example, Ørum may be found as Orum.
 * Political boundaries are not clearly indicated on all maps.

Historical Maps
Perhaps the most exciting maps available for Denmark are the historical maps available through Historiske kort på nettet. From ca. 1000 AD until the 1780's Denmark, like most of Europe used the strip system. Everybody's houses were clustered in the center of the village and the fields surrounded them. The fields were divided into long skinny strips and each dwelling had a number of them scattered throughout. Starting in the 1780's this land system was reformed. Each dwelling was given its own enclosed property and the homes were dispersed to make this happen. When the land system was redone, the Danish government created detailed maps of the new distributions. All of the maps are highly detailed and the earliest maps were made around the year 1800. Often the first maps have the name of the occupant written on the map, the maps are incredibly accurate, and the land boundaries have changed little since then. Because of this, you can often find your ancestor's plot using these maps and then compare the maps against satelite images from places like Google Earth and find the exact place your ancestor lived. The maps are so detailed that often trees, rivers, and even the ancestor's very farm is drawn on the map so you can see exactly where it was even if it is no longer standing.

Websites

 * Historic Maps Historiske kort på nettet
 * Danmark. Ministeriet for Videnskab, Teknologi og Udvikling - DigDag.dk, Digital atlas of Denmarks historical and administrative geography
 * Slægt og Data DK - Danmark 1793-1970
 * Gaderegisteret - Copenhagen Parishes by street name
 * Danish Family Search - Streets and Places
 * Copenhagen parishes 1686-1942
 * Various online maps of Copenhagen, ca. 1600-1900, Copenhagen City Archives.

Finding the Specific Town on the Map
To do successful Danish research, you must identify the town where your ancestor lived. Because many towns have the same name, you may need some additional information before you can find the correct town on a map. You will be more successful if you have some information about the town. Before using a map, search gazetteers, histories, family records, and other sources to learn all you can about the following:


 * The county the ancestor came from
 * The name of the parish where your ancestor was baptized or married
 * Towns where related ancestors lived
 * The size of the town
 * Your ancestor's occupation or names of relatives (this may indicate the town's size or industries)
 * Nearby localities, such as large cities
 * Nearby features, such as rivers and mountains
 * Industries of the area
 * Other names by which the town was known

Use gazetteers to identify the amt (county) your ancestor's town was in. This will distinguish it from other towns of the same name and help you find it on a map. See Denmark Gazetteers.

Finding Maps and Atlases
Collections of maps and atlases are available at many historical societies and at public and university libraries. See the "Archives and Libraries" section.

The Family History Library has an excellent collection of Danish maps and atlases. These are listed in the catalog under DENMARK - MAPS.

A good atlas at the Family History Library is:

Danmark 1:100 000 Topografisk Atlas (Denmark 1:100 000 Topographical Atlas). København: Geodætisk Institut, 1986. (FS Library book Ref 948.9 E7gin.)

Another helpful publication is:

Parish and County Listing with Maps—Denmark. Salt Lake City, Utah: Family History Library, 1992. (FS Library fiche 6068353.)

You can purchase maps of Denmark from:


 * Amundsen Book Center Decorah, Iowa 52101
 * Travel Genie Maps and Book Store 113 Colorado Avenue Ames, Iowa 50010