Laga Skifte Historical Maps of Sweden

Sweden Historical Maps of Sweden  Laga Skifte Historical Maps of Sweden



The Laga skifte was the next land reform. The decision was made in 1827 to do another land reform that ended both the Storskifte and the Enskifte. Beginning in 1828 the Laga Skifte was in effect. Although the Enskifte was ended, the Laga Skifte really can be seen as continuation and revision of the Enskifte. The only difference was that each farm would have 2 parts of arable land or meadow, and 1 part of forest. Ideally these parts would be on one lot. The process began when at least one farmer in the village requested the Laga Skifte. A lantmätare was brought in to evaluate the land and create a map of the village. Then the lantmätare worked with 2 skiftesgodemännen to come up with a solution of creating farm boundaries that met the requirements on one piece of land (as much as possible.) Another rule was that the new lot of land should produce exactly the same amount as the old farm lot. The letters assigned to the lots on the map correspond to the supporting documents. It’s generally said that the Laga Skifte broke up the old villages. But really, the Laga Skifte was just continuing the process begun with the Storskifte.

Colors on the Laga Skifte Maps
According to the Laga Skifte rules, the maps were created using a color code (see table below.) The Laga Skifte also had a grade value to land that could be ploughed and improved, and land that could not be ploughed.

Supporting documents


The supporting documents to a Laga Skifte are the handlingar (minutes), hävdeförteckningar (owners of the lots before the Laga Skifte), and the delningsbesrkivningar.

In the lagaskiftes delningsbeskrivningar you can find descriptions of the owners that received each lot after the Laga Skifte, including a summary of the pre- and post Laga Skifte owners. They are generally very extensive. You not only see the names of the owners assigned to each lot, but information about structures and buildings that had to be moved as well. Look for corresponding letters between the maps and the supporting documents.

The protokoll is organized into sections, one for each lot that had to be moved. Within each section you will see a preamble statement listing the authority, letter references to the map, and moving instructions. The map is based on the pre-Laga Skifte structure. Just because the moving of a structure (such as a root cellar) was dictated by the Laga Skifte, does not mean that it always happened. Sometimes a compensation amount was given by the new owner and a structure was not moved. The principles of the Laga Skifte were in effect up to 1928.

How to find Laga Skifte Historical Maps
1. Go to the Historiska kartor section of the Lantmäteriet website (using Firefox - Mar. 2016) at: Historiska kartor

2. You will see 3 search fields on the left side of the screen, and the word ”Sök”. You can use these fields, but it is easier to use the Advanced Search options. Click on Avancerad sökning

3. Leave the default in the Arkiv:* field as: Lantmäterimyndigheternas arkiv

4. Choose a Län:* (County) from the drop down list.For example: Södermanland. If you're not sure of the County name see a list at: Counties of Sweden

5. Click on the little circle next to Socken/Arkivserie (to sort by Socken instead of Kommun)

6. Choose a Socken (parish) from the Socken /Arkivserie:* dropdown list.

7. Then click on Sök

Note: The Välj Åtgärd: drop down list allows you to search for a specific type of map (such as Geometrisk, Storskifte, Enskifte, or Lagaskifte.) If you don’t use the fields Traktnamn, Årtal, or Åtgärd then you see a list of everything that is available for the parish.

8. After you click Sök, you will see a hits list.


 * The link to see the map is in the first column to the left.


 * The name of the “type of map” is in the middle column. For help with translation see the Historical Maps of Sweden Word List.


 * The year when the map or documents were made is in the far right column.

You can click on the numbers below the hits list to browse all the hits for this parish, or click on Nästa (Next) or Sista (Last) to move to the next list of hits.