Digitized Danish Records Online - Arkivalieronline

Denmark Digitized Danish Records Online

About the Danish National Archives Website
In the fall of 2002, the Danish State Archives with the support of the Ministry of Culture, began to digitize the Danish Lutheran State Church Parish Records and the National Censuses. Today, a variety of other records can be found on the website including probate records, civil marriages, fire insurance, and court records.The images have been scanned from microfilm, microfiche, and original sources. The digital images are available for free through Arkivalieronline on the internet at:[http://www.sa.dk/].

The Danish National Archives Website is updated. See homepage at:       https://www.sa.dk/

(Note:  Viewing of Danish National Archives digital images no longer requires installation of Java.)

English translation of the Danish National Archives homepage is available, and may be selected on the lower left corner of the homepage, leading to:          https://www.sa.dk/en/

Those using Google Chrome browser have another '''translation option. ''' A right mouse-click on any printed page allows selection of a ‘Translate to English’ option. Only printed pages are translated, NOT original handwritten documents. This translation option is available for more than just the homepage, and keeps additional translated website information in view.

ARKIVALIERONLINE or access to Danish Archives digital online records is found part way down the homepage. Lutheran State Church records, Danish National Census records, and other resources are available online, and are accessed using the ARKIVALIERONLINE Search or Søg option. Left mouse-click inside the search box, select a record type, then always left mouse-click the Search or Søg button to advance to selected records.

Accessing the Digitized Church Records
Some of the first records to be digitized on the website are the Lutheran church records. Each parish has records digitized from the earliest records up to the 20th century (dates vary depending on the parish).

Danish Lutheran Church Parish Records are found by selecting 'Kirkebøger'.
 * Click Søg (Search)
 * On the Kirkebøger page, select 'Kirkebøger fra hele landet' or 'Church books from around the country'
 * Then choose a parish from the many church parishes throughout Denmark
 * Select from record options that appear for selected parish.
 * From the column to the left of the parish record image viewer, choose the date span and the record type/types.

ArkivalierOnline uses the following codes to identify the content of each volume:
 * F (births/baptisms)
 * K (confirmations)
 * V (betrothals/marriages)
 * D (death/burial)

Helpful Danish Church record information and English translation of parish register headings can be found at Denmark Church Records and Denmark Parish Register Headings.

The National Archives of Denmark has published a PDF, Hurtige tips & tricks til det nye Arkivalieronline to help users locate images from the church records. A free online translation service, such as Google Translate may be useful for Danish to English translation of this information. Similar help pages are also available on the National Archives' website for other categories of records.

The following PDF provides an English guide for using church records on (an earlier edition of) the website:
 * Arkivalieronline Church Records Guide
 * [[Media:Arkivalieronline Digitized Church Records guide.pdf|Arkivalieronline Digitized Church Records guide]]

Alternate Online Access to Danish Church Books
Many Danish Church Records can be found among Family Search Indexed and Browse Images:    https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list/?page=1&countryId=1927025        Indexed Danish Family Search records can be searched using search fields. Unindexed Danish Family Search records can be searched by choosing 'browse images', then county, district, parish, and then record group by date range and type/types of records.

Records can be also be viewed at Danish Family Search which is not affiliated with FamilySearch or its sponsoring organization.

Left mouse-click on the map or on Church Books on Overview drop-down menu to select, successively, county, district, and parish, then select record group by date range and type/types of records. Danish Family Search website instructions can be viewed in either English or Danish language.

Accessing the Digitized Census Records
Along with the church records, the National Census records were also some of the first Danish records to be digitized. The following census years are available through Arkivalieronline:

Danish Census records are found by selecting ‘Folketælinger’ or ‘censuses’. Click Søg or Search. Click again on ‘Folketællinger’ or ‘censuses’ section. From the Folketællinger menu, select the year and the place type of the records you wish to view. Place types include Landdistrikter or rural areas, Købstæder or market towns, and København  for  Copenhagen. When the year and type of record are selected, then a parish may be selected, and then the record set.

Helpful Danish Census record information and English Translation of Danish Census Headings for various years are found on the FamilySearch Wiki, Denmark Census page:          https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Denmark_Census

Tips for using Arkivalieronline census records are found, in Danish, at:         https://www.sa.dk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nyAO-folketaellinger-hjaelp-2.pdf

The updated diagrams are helpful. A free online translation service, such as Google Translate may be useful for Danish to English translation of this information. see:         https://translate.google.com/

(Similar help pages are also available on the website for other categories of records.)

Note: The following information was posted for an earlier edition of Arkivalieronline:

The following PDF provides an English guide of how to access the census records on (an earlier edition of) the website:

Arkivalieronline Census Records Guide

Alternate Online Access to Danish Census Records
Danish Family Search:    http://www.danishfamilysearch.com/           Left mouse-click on map,or on  'Census Data' on drop-down menu to select, successively,  census date, county, district, and parish to get to census records which can be searched. If indexed, records can be searched by various categories, i.e., first names, surnames, place names, etc, to find an extracted record of a family, attached to an image of the actual census page. If not yet indexed, pages of census images can be searched one by one. Danish Family Search website instructions can be viewed in either English or Danish language.

Find the Digitized Probate Records on the updated (2016) Danish Archives Site
1, Go to the Danish Nations Archives Website:https://www.sa.dk/ (In Google Chrome, right mouse-click for English Translation)

2. Go to the ARKIVALIERONLINE section, left mouse-click in the search box, and select 'Find din slægt',or in English,'' 'Find your relatives'. Click on 'Søg' or 'Search'.''

3. On the 'Find din slægt' or 'Find your relatives' page, scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find several 'Skifter...' or 'Shifter' topics,which are the probate records, representing the shifting of property from the deceased persons to the heirs. The section that is more general, for the whole country is listed as 'Skifter, hele landet'or 'Switches, the whole country'.

4. After selecting which type of record you wish to search, left mouse-click on the topic. This will take you to a page where you may select the location of records you wish to view. Selection of the area, a listing of types of records, and period of time in which they existed. Selecting one of the record sets, will allow you to proceed to view specific records, and search for information about specific people in the Danish probate records.

(Note: on 'Find din slægt' or 'Find your relatives' page, select  'Skiftevæsen - Registre og hjælpemidler' or  'Probate Office -Records and aids' to find name register and other aids for finding relatives.)

Note: The following information was posted for an earlier edition of Arkivalieronline:
Another great digitized record type on the website are probate records. As of right now (Jul 2013), only probate records for the islands of Sjælland and Bornholm are available, along with the city of Copenhagen.

Upload the following PDF for an English guide, (to an earlier edition), of how to access the probate records on the website:

Arkivalieronline Probate Records Guide



Accessing the Digitized Civil Records
On Arkivalieronline, the civil marriages of Copenhagen are available. They cover the years 1923-1961. There are two sections of the marriage records - the register to the marriages (Register til ægteskabsbog) and the actual marriage records (Ægteskabsbog).

Upload the following PDF for an English guide of how to access the civil records on the website: Arkivalieronline Civil Records Guide

Accessing the Digitized Fire Insurance Records
Fire insurance records are a special record type that can be very useful when researching ancestors in the larger cities of Denmark. The fire insurance records are available from 1731 to 1872. Depending on the city, there are some areas that have records up to the 1920s.

Upload the following PDF for an English guide of how to access the fire insurance records on the website: Arkivalieronline Fire Insurance Records Guide

Accessing the Digitized Court Records
To access the Copenhagen court records, follow these 7 simple steps:

Tips

 * 1) You can save and print the digital images simply by first pushing the 'Save Image' button in the top lefthand corner of the screen, then opening the image in your image viewer (Microsoft Image viewer, IfranView, etc.), and finally pushing print. It is adviseable to save the images as '.tif' files.
 * 2) High speed internet is recommended for optimum performance.
 * 3) You may run into problems with the viewer depending on your operating system.
 * 4) They do not enhance the digital images from the microfilm. If the microfilming was poor, it carries over to the digital image.