Sweden Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Sweden, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Resources

 * ArkivDigital ($) - color images of Swedish church books
 * Riksarkivet - Swedish National Archives

Indexed Collections
 *  this indicates the same database is offered on multiple websites

Tips
For more information about headings found in parish registers and household exam rolls, see the article Swedish Parish Register and Household Exam Roll Headings.
 * For help with abbreviations see the article Sweden Abbreviations in Family History Sources
 * To see a list of the entire parish record collection (for the parish you are working in), you need to do a search in the Swedish National Archives Database called Nationell ArkivDatabas or NAD.
 * To learn more about the church jurisdictional structure see the article: Swedish Church Jurisdictions for Family History Research.
 * For a printable chart showing the church jurisdictional structure see: [[Media:Swedish Church Admin Structure 1650's - 1900's.pdf|Swedish Church Administration Strucure 1650s-1900s]].
 * Parish Maps

Parish Record Collections
We use birth, marriage, death, moving-in and -out, and household examination records the most. These are the main record types, but they do not represent the entire parish record collection. For a comprehensive list that shows all the record types see Sweden Church Records Types and Classification.

Historical Background
The origin of the Swedish Church Records (of the Lutheran State Church) dates back to the church law of 1686 which became effective in 1688. Prior to this many parishes were keeping church accounts books which date back to medieval times.

Eventually the bishops of a few dioceses took the initiative to start keeping other church records. One such bishop was Johannes Rudbeckius in Västerås Stift who in 1622 decided that more records were to be kept for the parishes in his diocese. He is attributed for creating the earliest Household Examination record in the 1620’s. This influence is why you can search the Household examinations in Dalarna and Västmanland back to the 1620’s compared to the rest of the kingdom that generally begin in the 1720’s. The oldest Swedish church record is a death record of 1608 – 1615 from the parish of Helga Trefaldighet in Uppsala diocese.

Areas of modern Sweden that historically belonged to Denmark such as Skåne and Jämtland often have church records dating back to 1646 when a similar law was passed by the Danes.

Church Law of 1686
The church law of 1686 stated that the parish priest was to maintain:


 * Birth and christening records (födelse och dop anteckningar)


 * Engagement and marriage records (lysnings och vigsel anteckningar)


 * Death and burial records (död och begravning anteckningar)

These 3 records are often called Ministerial books.

He should also maintain:


 * Household Examinations (Husförhörslängder also called Skriftebok)

In early times the household examination record might just be a Communion record. After 1895 these were replaced by the Församlingsböcker.


 * Moving in and out records (Inflyttnings- och Utflyttningsländer)

But there was no centralized instruction as to how the books were to be kept. This became a concern for every diocese to regulate which lead to a wide diversity of record keeping all over the kingdom. For example, moving in and out records were not generally kept before the 1800’s. Starting in 1860 we see standardized printed forms in the church records yet even these vary diocese to diocese. It wasn’t until 1894 that standard forms were used kingdom wide for the church records.

In early times it is common that all 3 Ministerial records were kept in one book called the church book (kyrkboken). Often you will find other records there too such as the Sockenstämmoprotokoll (a record of parish decisions and affairs), and the Kyrkoräkenskaper (a parish financial record). In some parishes you might find a Konfirmationsbok (confirmation record) was kept. Eventually these records became separate books altogether.

All of the original church books before 1895 have historically been kept by the Regional archives (the Landsarkiv). When there are gaps in the record collections of a parish, it is most likely that the original records did not survive (although it is always good to check the parish records for the parishes in the same pastorat to be sure.)

Additional Religions

 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Information Recorded in the Records
Extracts from Church Books (Utdrag ur Ministerialböcker) Beginning in 1860 records of births, marriages, and deaths were extracted from all the parish church books in the province. These were compiled yearly and sent to the Central Bureau of Statistics (Statistiska Centralbyrån). They are a primary source of birth, marriage, and death information in Sweden in lieu of the original records. They identify names of parents and also provide place of residence. As they are extracts from the parish registers the information they contain is not as complete as the original parish register entry.

Births (Födelseböcker)

 * Names of person
 * Date of birth
 * Legitimacy
 * Names of parents
 * Father's occupation and residence
 * Sometimes age of mother, number of siblings and parents’ year of marriage.

Marriages (Vigsellböcker)

 * Names of bride and groom
 * Their ages
 * Places of residence
 * Date of marriage
 * Sometimes names of parents

Deaths (Dödsböcker)

 * Name of the deceased
 * Date of death
 * Age
 * Place of residence at time of death
 * Occupation
 * Cause of death.

Församlingsbok
In compliance with the Royal ordinance of Aug. 6, 1894 the Husförhörslängd was replaced with a new record called a församlingsbok (congregation book or parish book). Like the husförhör, this book was used to register all the people who resided in a parish, but without the religious emphasis. At this time the notation of when a person took communion and how well they did on the catechal examination was removed. They still noted if a person was christened and confirmed. You will also see the names of all the household members with their birth, marriage, death, and moving information.

When the försmlingsbok was first used, generally the families were organized according to where they lived. By the mid 1900’s many were organized alphabetically by surname. The församlingsbok continued to be used right up to July 1, 1991 when the population registration was turned over to the tax authorities. Theoretically, this record covers 100% of the population.

These records provide reliable family relationships. By grouping families together they are particularly valuable. They also include names of lodgers and domestic servants; relationships, ages, birthdates, birthplaces, occupations; and death date or dates of moving in or out of the parish and their intended destination. In the National Archives designation schema these records are identifed as series AII, Församlingsböcker.

Kyrkoplikt
Kyrkoplikt (religious duty) has its origins as a personal act of reconciliation with God and the members of your home congregation. It was necessary to rejoin the congregation and to receive forgiveness of sins. After a person declared their guilt, and asked for forgiveness by God and their congregation, promising penance and improvement the priest could grant forgiveness.

The practice of kyrkoplikt was also used as a punishment by the civil courts for a variety of offenses such as blasphemy, battery, abusing others, theft, immorality, bearing false witness, and so on. For example, a person who had been pardoned from a death sentence could have been judged to pay fines. If the fines could not be paid, the punishment could have been changed to corporal punishment along with krykoplikt. In this context the kyrkoplikt was seen as a punishment of humiliation. Through legislation the kyrkoplikt was abolished on May 4, 1855. In 1918 all forms of "church punishment" were discontinued as punishment from a civil court. In earlier times kyrkoplikt was also called "kyrkliga handling" meaning a church action.

There were two types of kyrkoplikt, uppenbara and ''enskilda".
 * Uppenbara kyrkoplikt meant that a person had to go up and stand on the pliktpallen (duty stool) in front of their home congregation during church services and acknowledge their guilt and express repentance.
 * Enskilda kyrkoplikt meant that a person resumed association with the congregation and had to meet with the priest and a few selected members of the congregation in the sacristy (the priest’s dressing room where the vestments and vessels are stored) or in the church either before or after the church service. During the meeting the person would acknowledge their guilt and express their repentance.

Missing Records
If all the records for a parish begin at a later date for example 1800, either: 1- the original records have been destroyed or 2- this parish was created in 1800 and you should be searching in another parish record collection prior to 1800. A good reference to see what happened is: Sveriges församlingar genom tiderna. This is available in book form and online at Sveriges församlingar genom tiderna. You can see a listing of all the books and records belonging to a parish record collection by doing a search in the Swedish National Archive's online catalog called: Nationell Arkivdatabas.

If the local parish records were destroyed you might check with the Diocese archives (Domkapitel arkiv). These collections include many records from the parishes within the diocese such as diocese instruction, parish priest replacement, church residential properties, visits to the local parish by diocese officials, and donation records. The domkapitel was the diocese's central legal and administrative authority. They were government agencies until 2000 when the church and state were separated.

Among the visitation records you might find copies of local records such as the communion and household examinations and seating locations within the church. When a new priest or klockare (parish clerk) was chosen an electorial register was created which can offer detailed information about the land owners and farmers within the parish or pastorat. The Domkapitel Arkiv can also include records of divorces. The older part of the Domkapitel arkiv are stored at the Regional archives (the Landsarkiv).