Denmark Genealogy

Guide to Denmark ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Country Information
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe bordering Sweden, Norway, and Germany. In 1793 its counties were reorganized into 24 counties. In 2007 the counties were reorganized into 5 regions. Danish is the official language with Faroese, Greenlandic, and German being recognized languages.

Getting Started


Finding Your Ancestors' Town in Denmark

 * Genealogical records are organized by geographical locality. Civil registration (government birth, marriage, and death records) and church records (christenings/baptisms, marriages, and burials) were kept at the local level. To search these records, you must know the town where your ancestors lived.
 * If you do not know your ancestors' town, follow the advice in the Wiki article, Denmark Finding Town of Origin, to search a variety of records that might provide that information.

Denmark Clickable Map
The map below shows county boundaries from about 1793 to 1970.

Counties
The Standard which FamilySearch uses is as follows: Town, Sogn (Parish), Herred, Amt (County), Denmark. Click on a county below to go to the state Wiki article listing more information. [[Media:Denmark_Counties_1793_-_1970.jpg|The Counties of Denmark (1793 - 1970)]].

Denmark Parishes

 * Parish List

2007 Regions


On 1 January 2007 the counties were reorganized into five regions. Their official names are:
 * Region Hovedstaden
 * Region Sjælland
 * Region Nordjylland
 * Region Midtjylland
 * Region Syddanmark

More Denmark Research Strategies
Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for Denmark.
 * Getting Started
 * Emigration information
 * Immigration information
 * Using witnesses to find the next generation
 * City People and Research
 * My Danish Ancestors, A Step-by-Step Guide to Utilizing FamilySearch.org to find Danish Ancestors.

More Denmark Research Tools
Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools for Denmark.
 * Forside contains various databases including citizenship, church records, prisoner records, protocols.
 * Denmark Counties
 * Danish Dictionary
 * Nordic Given Names List
 * Handwriting Guide and Handwriting Examples
 * Maps - counties(amts) herreds local communities
 * Military Levy Numbers (Lægdnummer)
 * Military Levying Roll Abbreviations (Army)
 * Parish Register Headings
 * Denmark General
 * Southern Denmark (Danish language)
 * Southern Denmark (German language)
 * Timeline of Events in your Ancestors Life
 * Typing Æ, Ø, and Å
 * Mormonkirkens store database
 * Record Finder
 * Latin date converter
 * MyHeritage MyHeritage puts exclusive Scandinavian records online.
 * Danish Family Search
 * Shifting Jurisdictions in Noerrejylland The database is intended to find archive capabilities where a change can be found. One has to know where the deceased died and his condition.
 * Hollinger Family History Lots of data for more than 2,100 people from many European countries since 1480.
 * Funeral Records - City of Copenhagen 1861-1942

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map
 * FamilySearch Help Center Online Lessons:
 * Danish Census Research Part 1: Using the Danish Demographical Database
 * Danish Census Research Part 2: Finding Censuses on Arkivalieronline
 * Danish Census Research Part 3: Extracting Genealogical Information
 * FamilySearch Wiki: Denmark, Norway, Sweden
 * Danish Church Records: Research Strategies
 * Danish Church Records: Finding Ancestors Through Witnesses
 * Danish Resources on FamilySearch.org