Greenland Church Records

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

Online Resources

 * Greenland National Museum & Archives - images of church books
 * Danishfamilysearch - images of church books

Historical Background
Church records are a primary source of birth, marriage, and death information. They identify names of parents, prove other relationships, and are very useful for linking generations. The Lutheran Church (Den Danske Folkekirke) was responsibile for recording vital events. Groups of dissenters and German Protestants also kept church records. The earliest parish register is from Frederikshåb (Paamiut) since 1742.

On January 7, 1959 the ship Hans Hedtoft was sent from Copenhagen to collect 3.25 tons of archival records from Greenland. The ship made stops at Nuuk, Sisimiut and Maniitsoq before sailing to Julianehaab. On January 29, the ship began the return journey. On January 30 the ship struck an iceberg about 35 nautical miles south of Cape Farewell, the southernmost point of Greenland. The Hans Hedtoft sent SOS distress signals which were received by 2 West German Trawlers. The messages stated the engine room was flooded and the ship was sinking. The last message was received at 18:06 on the same day. On January 31, the USCGC Campbell arrived at the last known coordinates and found no signs of the ship, the passengers, or the crew. Tragically, the parish records of Greenland were among the tons archival material that went down with the ship. The records were meant to be deposited in archives in Denmark causing a major loss for Greenlandic genealogy.

Church records which were not on the Hans Hedtoft are preserved at the Provincial Archive [Landsarkivet] for Sjælland in Copenhagen, Denmark and Grønlands Arkiv in Nuuk, Greenland. The earliest church records were incomplete and covered only Europeans.

Information Recorded in the Records
Birth and christening registers
 * Infant's name
 * Name and surname of father and mother
 * Christening date
 * Sometimes date of birth

Marriage registers
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Sometimes birth place and age
 * Sometimes date of announcement of marriage intention
 * Date of marriage
 * Ages, residence and occupation of couple
 * Previous marital status
 * Names of parents

Death and burial registers
 * Name of deceased
 * Date and place of death and/or burial
 * Residence
 * Sometimes cause of death
 * Names of survivors
 * Cccasionally date and place of birth