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 (Firefox - Jan. 2019) at: Historiska kartor.

2. The Historiska kartor (Historical Maps) window opens. In the upper right hand corner, click on the link English

3. The English version of this website opens. It will be easier to use the Advanced Search options. To do this, click on the link Advanced Search

4. The Advanced Search window opens. Select the Archive you want to investigate from the drop down list. Usually this will be the Regional Archive

5. Choose the County from the drop down list. If you're not sure of the County name see a list at: Counties of Sweden

6. If you know the Municipality, click on the button Municipality and select which Municipality. If you know the Parish, click on the button Parish and select which Parish.

7. If you wish to see a list of all the maps available for your search, then skip this step. Otherwise fill in one or more of these last four fields to limit the number of maps.


 * Select the Region Name.
 * Select the year you want to start the search. It must be greater than 1599.
 * Select the year you want to end the search. It must be less than 1929.
 * Select the type of map you want. For help with translation see the Historical Maps of Sweden Word List.

8. Then click on the button Search

9. The Search Results window opens. You will see a list with 3 columns.


 * The first column is a link to the map itself. Click on that link to see the map.
 * The middle column is the type of map Not all the items are maps, some are documents. And some documents have maps. For help with translation see the Historical Maps of Sweden Word List.
 * The last column is the year when the map or document was made.