History of the Swedish Church Records

Church Records are the primary source for names, dates, and places of birth, marriage, and death. Nearly everyone who lived in Sweden was recorded in a church record.

Records of births marriages, and deaths are commonly called vital records because they document critical events in a person's life. Church records are vital records made by church ministers. Often called parish registers or churchbooks, church records include information on births, christenings, marriages, deaths, and clerical surveys. They may also include account books, confirmations, and records of people moving in and out of a parish.

Since civil authorities did not begin registering their separate vital statistics until 1950, church records are the main source of family information before this date.

General Historical Background

After the Reformation in 1527, the Evangelical Lutheran Church became the state church (Svenska Kyrkan). In 1608 the arch bishop of Sweden asked the clergy to start recording christenings, bethrothals, and marriages. Most ministers did not comply. In 1622 the bishop of Västerås instructed the clergy in his diocese in record keeping. A royal decree issued in 1686 required that ministers record baptisms, marriages, and burials and take clerical surveys (also called household examinations). This decree was based on the instructions given by the bishop of Västerås. Because there was no established guide for the keeping of these records, each individual minister developed a record-keeping method which worked for him. Some ministers chose to divide these records into sections, thus creating a separate section for christenings, engagements/marriages, and burials. Other ministers chose to keep a running account of the events in which he participated. Because most church events took place on Sunday, using this latter method, it is common to read for a given Sunday, three christenings, followed by two marriages, and concluding with a burial. When events have been combined, it is important to make mental note of the type of record you are reading and to scan each individual record as you are researching. With the passage of time, the Swedish church records were kept using printed forms, divided into columns with headings, and kept in a chronological sequence. Efficient recording developed slowly.

Not all Swedish parishes have church records extending back in time to the year 1686. Because of many extenuating circumstances, there are time gaps in the church records for some parishes. Warfare, fires, water damage, rodents, absence of cleargy, etc. are a few of the explanations for why there are missing records.

In 1888, Parliament passed a bill establishing the provincial archives. In 1899 the first of the seven archives was organized in Vadstena.

Eventually the government requested that existing church records up to 1895 be sent to the provincial archives for safekeeping. The church continues to keep records, but since 1 July 1991 all record-keeping responsibility shifted to the government.

Other Churches

From early on only a few Jewish, Catholic, and Reformed congregations were allowed to operate.

A tolerance edict of 1781 let Catholics, Jews, and members of Reformed congregations have full citizenship. In 1873 the dissenter law allowed for membership in other churches. Parishes of the state church continued recording the vital statistics for everyone, including dissenters.

Beginning in 1915 dissenter churches were allowed to keep their own records of births, marriages, and deaths.

Information Recorded in Church Registers

The information recorded in churchbooks varied over time. The later records generally give more information than earlier ones.

Births /Baptisms/ (Födda /Döpta)

Children were generally christened within a few days of birth. Christening registers usually give the infant's and parents' names, the child's legitimacy status, the names of witnesses and godparents, and the christening date. You may also find the child's birth date, father's occupation, and the family's place of residence. Death information has sometimes been added as a note. In larger cities the street address may also be listed. Witnesses are sometimes relatives, whether it is indicated or not.

Marriages (Vigda)

Marriage registers give the marriage date and the names of the bride and groom. They usually also indicate whether the bride and groom were single or widowed and give the names of witnesses. Sometimes they include the bride's and groom's ages, residences, occupations, parents' names, and birthplaces. Often a note is made stating who gave permission for the bride to marry (usually the closest living relative).

In addition to the marriage date, the registers may contain the three dates on which the marriage intentions, or banns (lysningar), were announced. The banns gave people an opportunity to come forward with information about why the couple shoud not be married.

Couples were generally married in the bride's home parish. Typically people were well into their twenties before they married.

Deaths /Burials (Döda /Begravna)

Burials were recorded a few days after the death in the parish where the burial took place.

Burial registers give the deceased's name and death or burial date and place. They often include the age, place of residence, and cause of death. Occasionally they list the birth date and place and parents' names. However, if the person giving the information did not have reliable information, the birth information in a burial record may not be correct.

Burial records may exist for individuals who were born before birth or marriage records were kept. Stillbirths were usually recorded in the burial registers.

Confirmation Records (Konfirmationslängder)

A church law passed in 1686 required the ministers to keep rolls of all their members, where they lived, and their knowledge of the catechism. Some clerical surveys go back as early as 1700, but most start much later. From about 1820 on, surveys are available for most parishes.

In the beginning, an entry for each household was made yearly, like in an annual census record. After a while, the same entries were used for a number of years, usually five. If a person died or moved, the entry was crossed out. In addition to the information mentioned above, ministers may have mentioned birth dates and places; marriage dates; occupations, poverty; prison records; dates and destinations for people moving within, into, or out of the parish; and death dates. A man's military number was entered and whether he was called to regular maneuver. Information about illegitimacy would follow a child for years.

Typically the earlier clerical surveys have less information than the later ones (from the 1820s).

Moving Records (In-och utflyttningslängder, flyttningsattester)

The clerical surveys generally have notations about a person's moving into or from a parish. There are also special separate records that list the arrival and removal of parishioners. These records begin to appear in the 1700s, but are not thereafter necessarily conscientiously kept. In the 1800s the moving records are more complete. They are generally kept chronologically, giving the person's name, occupation and/or marital status. The moving in records (inflyttningslängder/inflyttade) provide the name of the parish that the person has moved out of and the village or farm that he is moving to. Conversely, the moving out records (utflyttningslängder/utflyttade) provide the village or farm that the person is moving out of and the name of the parish to which he intends to move. Sometimes the person's residence in a village or farm is indicated with the page number in the clerical survey. Other possible information in the moving records includes age or birth date and place, religious knowledge, character reference, and gender. Wives and children may not be mentioned by name, only as statistics.

As a person moved away from a parish, he was to obtain a moving certificate (flyttningsattest) from the minister. This certificate was to be presented to the minister in the destination parish. It contained the name of the person moving with his birth date and place. If a whole family was moving, it gave the same information for all on one certificate. Other usual information given included occupation and/or marital status, reading ability, knowledge of religion and worthiness of partaking of the Communion, character reference, vaccination, and where the person was registered for taxation. In the late 1800s the certificates could be printed forms. They were dated and signed by the minister of the parish that the person moved out of and were stored in the parish that the person moved into as loose documents arranged by year.

Church Records Extracts

''Extracts of birth, marriage, and deaths records (Utdrag ur födelse-vigsel-och dödböcker).  In 1860 the government requested that ministers annually copy the birth, marriage, and death information in their registers onto special forms and send them to the Statistiska Centralbyrån'' (Central Bureau of Statistics) in Stockholm. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of these records from 1860 to 1920.

''Extracts of Clerical Surveys (Utdrag ur Husförhörslängder). Every tenth year, the parish ministers also sent extracts of the clerical surveys to Statistiska Centralbyrån.'' The Family History Library has microfilm copies of these extracts for 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1890.

Both types of extracts are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under SWEDEN, [COUNTY]-CIVIL REGISTRATION. For Stockholm city, see SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM, STOCKHOLM-CIVIL REGISTRATION.

Locating Church Records

Church records were kept at the local parish of the church. (A parish is a local congregation that may have included many neighboring villages in its boundaries.)

You must determine in which parish your ancestor was born or lived before starting your research in Swedish records. Parish boundary maps can help you identify neighboring parishes if you need to search through various parishes in a region.

Records at the Family History Library

The Family History Library has microfilmed Swedish church records up to and including 1920.

You can determine what records the library has by checking the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under : SWEDEN, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - CHURCH RECORDS.

If the parish is in a city, search SWEDEN, [COUNTY], [CITY] - CHURCH RECORDS. The names of the city parishes follow alphabetically on the first line under the above heading.

The Family History Library's collection continues to grow. As a result, the catalog is updated annually, so you may want to check it every year for records that have been added.

Records Not at the Family History Library

Post - 1920 baptism, marriage, and burial information is available by writing to the parish office. Address your letter, written in English, to:

Pastorsexpeditionen                                                                                                                                                 Name of Parish                                                                                                                                                     Sweden

Parishes will generally answer your letter in Swedish. Your request may be forwarded if the records have been sent to a provincial archive.

