Denmark Counties

Len to 1662
During Medieval times Denmark was organized into areas called Lens. Each Len was headed by a castle and had some of the surrounding herreder attached. Each Len was under the supervision of a government appointed Lensmand who managed the King's affairs within the Len.



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The Counties of Denmark (1662 - 1793)
On 16 February 1662 the len were reorganized into 48 amt. Most of the amt had similar boundaries to the original len. The main difference was that the amtmand did not have military authority as the lenmand had.

The Counties of Denmark (1793 - 1970)
In 1793 the Counties were reorganized into 24 Counties. The Danish name for county is Amt. The organization of Danish records in the FamilySearch Catalog is based upon this time period.

The Counties of Denmark (1970 - 2006)
In 1970 the Counties of Denmark were reorganized into 15 Counties.

2007 Reorganization


On 1 January 2007 the counties were reorganized into five regions. Their official names are:
 * Region Hovedstaden
 * Region Sjælland
 * Region Nordjylland
 * Region Midtjylland
 * Region Syddanmark