Sweden: Geografiskt-Statistiskt Handlexikon Öfver Sverige

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Geografiskt-Statistiskt Handlexikon Öfver Sverige was edited by C.M. Rosenberg and first printed in 1883. This gazetteer gives over 65,000 places within Sweden and describes Sweden at the time when emigration was at its peak and includes all parishes, most villages and larger farms. This gazetteer is excellent for showing the spellings of Swedish place names prior to the spelling reform which took place in 1906. Some of the main points in the 1906 spelling reform to keep in mind in searching for a place name are:


 * f, fv, fw, hv, and hw as signs of the V-sound were replaced by V.
 * DT was changed to T or TT
 * C was in most places replaced by K and is used today mostly to make a double K, which is written CK.

Helpful vocabulary:

Gård             Farm By                 Village Socken (Sn)   Parish Härad (Hd)     District Län               County

Availability This set of books is available in paper, micro-, and digital form. See below:


 * The books have been scanned and are available for free through Projekt Runeberg. See: Geografiskt-statistiskt handlexikon öfver Sverige
 * Family History Library with the Call # SCAND 948.5 E5r.


 * Family History Library and Family History Centers: INTL FILM # 0,873,678 and 0,873,679 (both necessary for entire set) and microfiche #6,030050 to 6,030074.


 * SVAR and Sveriges Släktforskarförbund have extracted the information into a database called C.M. Rosenberg to republish the information from the original books. This is on a CD that is available for purchase at the online bookshop for Sveriges Slaktforskarförbund at this website: http://genealogi.netrix.se/shop/ The CD is also available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (but not at its centers) with the catalog number:  CD-ROM No. 2210.


 * It is also available to subscribers of the SVAR website (see http://www.svar.ra.se/). It is under “Shortcuts – Databases” with the name Rosenberg – Geographic Dictionary of Sweden.
 * Part of the text is available on Project Runeberg. (The project would certainly appreciate volunteer users editing OCR text, page at a time.)