Copenhagen: Cemeteries

Back to Portal: Copenhagen

Cemetery records are a complimentary record to the more commonly used church and civil death/burial records. The records come in several different forms from headstones to sextons records. Cemetery records are especially useful when there are gaps in death/burial records.

Background
There are many different cemeteries in the city of Copenhagen. Each cemetery has its own records and own customs of burial. For common burial customs see Denmark: Cemeteries. Most cemeteries were located on the grounds of the parish church. Other religious and occupational cemeteries are scattered throughout the city. There are two cemeteries that are the most well-known in Copenhagen, the Assistens Cemetery and the Jewish Cemetery on Møllegade. These cemeteries not only have the poorest of the poor buried there, but some of the most world renown Danes.

The Assistens Cemetery and its Records
In 1760, the Assistens cemetery (Assistens Kirkegård) was created for the use of Copenhagen’s churches. Every state church was in charge of its own section of the cemetery and its own records. A few of the churches who used the cemetery were:

However, starting in 1805 all of the burials for the cemetery was recorded in one burial register (Begravelsesprotokoller). Nearly all people were recorded in this register, and are divided between men and women. Up until 1945 children under the age of twelve were not recorded in the registers. After 1861, other people, including military personnel, the poor, and members of minority religions (such as Catholics and Jews), were not recorded in the burial registers nor buried in the cemetery. Beginning in 1887, all deaths and burials were recorded in the burial register despite occupation, status, religion, etc. Alphabetical indexes are available for the burial records at the Copenhagen State Archives. The contents of the burial records include: - Name (women under married name) - Age - Birth date and place (from 1913) - Occupation (excluding the years 1856-1860) - Death date and cause of death - Burial date and place - Address and parish at time of death

Copenhagen's Jewish Cemeteries
There are several Jewish cemeteries scattered throughout the city, but the most well known of these are the Mosaisk Vestre Kirkegård and the Mosaisk Nordre Kirkegård i Møllegade. Unlike most European cemeteries, the Jewish graves are never re-used, thus it is easier to find the graves of people prior to 1900 than in most other cemeteries in Denmark. Mosaisk Nordre Kirkegård i Møllegade Burials in the cemetery began in 1694, and the cemetery was used up until 1967. About 5,500 people are buried in the cemetery, among which are many different famous Danish Jews. Mosaisk Vestre Kirkegård The Vestre Kirkegård was used from 1886 - 1976. Many people, other than Jews are buried there. When using the headstones to gather information it is important to remember that many of the headstones are written in Hebrew rather than Danish and the Latin alphabet.

Access
Sexton and other burial records are available at the local archives and libraries. Compiled records of burials can be accessed through a couple of different sources including: 100 års dødsfald i Danmark, 1761-1890 [100 years of deaths in Denmark], by V. Richter (FHL 948.9 V43r) Margolinsky, Jul. Jødiske Dødsfald I Danmark 1693-1976. København: Dansk Historisk Håndbogsforlag, 1978. (FHL 948.9 V22m) and findagrave.com