Bergen City, Norway Genealogy

Guide to Bergen City ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records. Bergen/City/County (was a county from 1831 to 1972)

Bergen City was once a county, but the city is now part of Hordaland County. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway, a municipality, and a former county, in the county of Hordaland.

The Norwegian city of Bergen was separated from Hordaland as a county of its own in 1831. It was established as a municipality January 1, 1838. The rural municipality of Bergen landdistrikt was merged with Bergen January 1, 1877. The rural municipality of Årstad was merged with Bergen July 1, 1915. The rural municipalities of Arna, Fana, Laksevåg and Åsane were merged with Bergen January 1, 1972. The city lost its status as a separate county the same date. Bergen was Norway's biggest city until the 1830s, when it was passed by Oslo.


 * See Bergen City
 * Bergen by

History and Tidbits
The city of Bergen is located at the west coast of Norway. Bergen Municipal is one of the 33 municipals in Hordaland county. It has for almost one thousand years been the destination of travellers from all around the world. Bergen is the kingdom's second largest city, with over 250.000 inhabitants and situated on the west coast of Norway. The year of the foundation is estimated to be1070.

Familiy History Resources
Norwegian American Bygdelagenes Fellesraad

Nordhordaland

Church Records/Civil Registration

 * These are the most important records you will use, and a majority of your research will be found in them. All civil registration was kept by the church parishes until 2012.
 * Digitalarkivet: Digitized parish registers of Bergen
 * Norway Indexed parish register transcriptions
 * The Family History Library has microfilms for all Bergen parish registers up to about 1920. These can be viewed at the library or at a Family Histor Center near you.
 * By clicking on the parish links above, you may find direct links to all the records for that parish.
 * You do not have to be fluent in Norwegian. These records use a very limited, specialized vocabulary that is easy to learn. For help reading and interpreting theses records, see Norwegian Genealogical Word List, Norway Handwriting, and Reading Scandinavian Gothic Handwritten Records Lessons 1: Scandinavian Gothic Letters, 2: Names, Words, and Dates, and 3: Handwritten Records.
 * Parish Register Headings for Norway: This pdf gives the translation of headings for the records in different time periods.  When a record is written with labeled columns it is much easier to search. Much of the material you read in each column will just be names and dates, since the meaning of those names (child, parents, godparents, minister) only has to be read once, in the column heading.


 * For more detail on the contents of these records and how to use them, see Norway Church Records and Norway Civil Registration.

Census
Censuses for Bergen available online at Digitalarkivet (Digital Archives) of Norway.


 * Manntall 1714 for Bergen
 * 1801 Census for 1301 Bergen
 * 1865 Census for 1301 Bergen
 * 1875 Census
 * 1885 Census for Bergen Partial
 * 1891 Census for Årstad herred in Bergen
 * 1900 Census for 1301 Bergen
 * 1910 Census for Bergen

Censuses for Bergen available at the Family History Library.


 * 1645: Manntall over Bergens Bys koppskatt for 1645. A census and poll tax of all the male persons in Bergen City, Bergen, Norway in 1645. Available at theFamily History Library.


 * 1801: Folketellingen den 1ste februar 1801. This is a printed edition of the 1801 census for Bergen city and Hordaland county. Each fiche has an index of the farm names, given names, and surnames. There is also a separate index by given name and by surname for the whole county. This census gives the persons name, position in the household, age, marital status, and occupation. Available at the Family History Library Årstad parish see Family History Library Bergen, Bergen see Family History Library; Bergen city and County see Family History Library Hordaland County and Bergen city see Family History Library Bergen city and Hordaland county see Family History Library.


 * 1815: Bergen by folketelling, 1815 (Bergen). This 1815 census for Bergen City, Norway and lists the persons name, and occupation. Available on microfilm at the Family History Library.


 * 1865: Folketellingen den 31te desember 1865.. The 1865 is available on microfilm at the Family History Library. This census contains the persons name, residence, status in the family, occupation, sex, marital status, place of birth, age, religion if not a member of the state church, and other miscellaneous information. Each book usually contains one clerical district (prestegjeld). In some books there are two clerical districts recorded. The parishes and school districts in each clerical district are listed at the beginning of each book.


 * 1875: Folketellingen for kongeriket Norge den 31te desember 1875. The 1875 census is available on microfilm at theFamily History Library. This 1875 census contains the persons name, whether resident or temporary resident, those absent from the parish and their location at the time of the census, occupation, sex, marital status, year of birth, place of birth, religion if not a member of the state church, and other miscellaneous information.


 * 1891: Folketelling for kongeriget Norge den 1ste januar, 1891. The 1891 census is available on microfiche at the Family History Library. The 1891 census for Bergen, Bergen and Troms county, Norway. This census contains the persones navn, sex, postion in the family marital status, when born, place of birth, religion if not member of the state church, occupation, and other miscellaneous information. See also other microfiche at the  Family History Library


 * 1900: Folketellingen for Norge den 3dje desember 1900. The 1900 census is available on microfilm at theFamily History Library. This census contain the persons name, sex, whether resident or temporary resident, those absent from the parish and their location at the time of the census, position in the family, marital status, occupation, year of birth, place of birth, citizenship, religion, and other miscellaneous information.


 * 1910: Folketellingen for Norge den 1ste desember 1910. The 1910 census forBergen city is available online Digital Archives as well as at the Norwegian Historical Data Centre.

Emigrants

 * Emigrantar fra Bergen 1874-1930
 * Ship's lists Bergen-Quebec 1865-1873
 * Skipslister for Bergen-New York 1871-1873
 * Pass for emigrasjon til Amerika, utstedt i Bergen 1842-1860

Probate Records

 * 1640-1903 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1680-1720 - which includes these districts and counties: Sunnhordland, Nordhordland, and Hardanger in Hordaland county; Bergen City; Sogn, Sunnfjord, and Nordfjord in Sogn og Fjordane county; and Sunnmøre in Møre og Romsdal county.
 * 1716-1870 - Probate records for in Bergen city. The probate records usually contain the date of the probate, names of the deceased, names of the heirs, guardians and trustees, inventory lists, land and holdings, and other miscellaneous information.


 * Bergen city judicial district digitised probate records online at Digitalarkivet.

Cemeteries
Historic Cemeteries in Bergen Norway

Censuses

 * http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/da/mt12011714.htm 1714 Census for Bergen]

Church Records
Baptisms


 * christenings

Communicants


 * Communicants

Confirmations


 * Confirmations

Marriages


 * Marriages

Deaths

Burials


 * begravede

In-migrants


 * In-migrants

Out-migration


 * Out-migration

Absolutions


 * Absolutions

Citizenship
Citizens of Bergen who resides further north - about 1666

Court Records
Legal Procedure, Sentence Protocols

Verdict Protocol for Bergen, 1699

Prisoners

Political prisoners in Bergen, 1943-1944

Other

Town-Hall protocol for Bergen, 1592-1594

Kommisjonsprotokoll 1808-1809 i saka mot losane som førde inn den britiske fregatten "Tartar"

Vedlegg til kommisjonsaka 1808-1809 mot losane som førde in den britiske fregatten "Tartar"

Overkriminalrettens dom i saka mot losene som førde inn den britiske frefatten "Tatar"

History Bergen
Må historien skrives om

Military
WORLD WAR II

British intelligence on German installations in Bergen

Protocol from 1944 of the Antiquarian commitee in the "Katastrofeutvalg" in Bergen

Probate Records

 * 1640-1903 - at FamilySearch — index

Guardianship


 * 1714 - Census of legal guardians for Bergen 1714


 * 1703 - Census of legal guardians for Bergen 1703

Other
The Real estate register for Bergen 1686-1696

Protocol of mascopis (neighbours) in Svengården in Bergen 1598-1700

Report on the German trade office in Bergen, 1718

Tax Lists
Tax census for Bergen 1713

Tax census for Bergen 1715

Census for military tax (krigsstyr) of 1712 Bergen

Addition to the census list of the military tax (krigsstyr) of 1712 for Bergen

Census of military tax (krigsstyr) for the clericals in Bergen 1715

Return to Norway