Denmark Church Records, 1576-1919
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Denmark Church Records, 1576-1919
48,282,184 գրառումները
Records of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, burials, and other records kept by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark. Church records are extremely important for Danish research as vital events of virtually every individual who lived in Denmark during the time period covered by this collection were recorded in these parish registers or church books (kirkebøger). The Evangelical Lutheran Church became the official state church in 1536 and as such the Church and its clergy acted as the official arm of the Crown and national government charged with collecting and safeguarding vital records of the Danish population.<br><br>The Lutheran Church in Denmark began keeping vital records in 1645 after the king issued a royal decree requiring the clergy on the island of Sjælland to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. The same decree was issued the following year (1646) to the rest of the kingdom. Some ministers had been keeping vital records much earlier with the earliest parish records starting in 1572 in the city of Nakskov.<br> <br>After the events of the Reformation the Danish Crown recognized only the Evangelical Lutheran Church, with a few exceptions. The Reformed Church was recognized in 1747 and established Jewish congregations were recognized in 1814. In 1849 the Danish constitution recognized additional Christian dissenter churches, but it required that all denominations notify the minister of their local Lutheran parish of all births and deaths occurring in their congregations.<br> <br>In 1814 standardized and form-based registers were produced and issued to the Lutheran clergy to aid in the collection of these records. Records produced prior to this were free-form paragraphs and registers, with formatting varying clergy to clergy. In the early church books, there is also variation in the order the records were kept—sometimes events (baptism, marriage, burial, etc.) were recorded in strict chronological order regardless of event, and sometimes events were broken out into separate sections, and then recorded chronologically. <br> <br>In the beginning of the vital record keeping practices in Denmark the requirement was limited to baptisms, marriages, and burials. Confirmations started to be recorded in 1736. In the early 1800s Denmark suffered a severe smallpox epidemic, which resulted in a vaccination law that went into effect on March 4, 1810. Clergy were often trained to administer vaccinations and recorded these events in their parish registers. Around 1812 some parishes also began keeping track of individuals moving in and out of their parish. Other types of church records include introductions, absolutions, and communions.<br> <br>A brief explanation of each record type is given below:<br> <br><b>Birth</b> <i>(Fødte)</i> or <b>Baptisms</b> <i>(Døbte)</i> – Children were normally baptized (or "christened”) within a few days of birth. Birth or baptismal registers usually contain the infant’s and parent’s names, legitimacy, date, and names of witnesses and godparents. Sometimes the child’s birth date, the father’s occupation, and the family’s exact place of residence is listed. In the pre-printed registers, male and female births were usually recorded separately.<br> <br><b>Marriages</b> <i>(Copulerde or Viede)</i> – Marriage records contain the marriage date along with the names of the bride and the groom and their residences. After 1814 it is common for these records to include additional information about the bride and the groom such as their ages, occupations, names of their fathers, and sometimes birthplaces. Finally, these records may indicate whether they were single or widowed and gives names of witnesses who were often (but not always) other family members.<br> <br><b>Death</b> <i>(Døde)</i> or <b>Burials</b> <i>(Begravede)</i> – Burials usually took place with a few days of death. Burials in Denmark were recorded in the records of the parish where the burial occurred. Burial registers provide the deceased's name, death or burial date, place of burial, and age at death. After 1814 the records may include the deceased’s place of residence, cause of death, and names of survivors or next-of-kin. Sometimes the deceased’s birth date, birth place, and parents’ names are given. Post-1814 records were kept in separate lists for males and females.<br> <br><b>Confirmations</b> <i>(Konfirmerede or Confirmerede)</i> – In 1736 the Church required that young people be instructed in the Lutheran catechism and pass a simple examination by the minister before taking their first communion—normally at about the age of 14. Confirmation records contain the person’s name, residence, and sometimes age. After 1814 the records are separated into lists for males and females, and include the parents’ names and sometimes the date and place of the person’s birth or christening.<br> <br><b>Vaccinations</b> <i>(Vaccinerede)</i> – The vaccination mandate began in 1810 required everyone to receive the smallpox vaccine, unless the person at already had the pox. Vaccinations typically occurred when children were quite young. These records usually list the name of the person receiving the vaccine, date of vaccination, their father’s name, and their age or birth date. A person’s vaccination date could also be recorded in their confirmation record, and if they ever moved, could be noted in their moving in or moving out record.<br> <br><b>Moving In</b> <i>(Tilgangsliste)</i> and <b>Moving Out</b> <i>(Afgangsliste)</i> Records – Began in 1812 and list individuals moving in or moving out of a parish. These records may contain name, age or birth date, occupation, residence, vaccination date, moving date, and where moving to/from.<br> <br><b>Introductions</b> <i>(Introduserede)</i> – After a woman gave birth, she was considered “unclean” and had to be reintroduced into the congregation. The woman may be listed directly (by her name), or indirectly (by her husband’s name, e.g. “wife of ....”).<br> <br><b>Absolutions</b> – Certain transgressions had to be absolved by the church. The most common absolution was for pre-marital sex resulting in a pregnancy, in which case both parties had to be publically absolved before they could return to the congregation. Other transgressions that could be absolved included failing to receive communion regularly, public drunkenness, violence, blasphemy, theft, and murder. These records were kept up until about 1767. <br> <br><b>Communions</b> <i>(Confirmerede)</i> – These records recorded who received communion on a given day. Sometimes individuals were recorded in family groups with only the head of the family listed by name, and the other individuals in the family being referenced by number and relationship to the head. For example, “Hans Jensen and wife and 2 sons and a daughter”.<br> <br><b>Surnames and Searching:</b><br>Surnames in Danish genealogy can be quite confusing. Patronymic surnames—surnames constructed using the given name of the person’s father appended with either “-sen” (son) or “-datter” (daughter)—were legally abolished in 1826, at which time the government wanted people to adopt family surnames instead. However, it took several decades before patronymic surnames stopped being used completely; in fact, most ordinary people used patronymics through the mid-19th century. For this reason, it is impossible for a researcher to know which surname an individual might be recorded under in records dating from 1826 up to about 1870. Because of this, MyHeritage has augmented records behind-the-scenes, for records dating from 1826 to 1870, with both surnames. Regardless of which surname you search for your ancestor under, this behind-the-scenes work will help surface the best matches for your search, but may show search results that initially look incorrect.<br> <br><b>Dates:</b><br>Early Danish church records often recorded event dates as a Feast Date. Feast Dates are based on the liturgical calendar, rather than on the Julian or Gregorgian calendars. Denmark used the Julian calendar up until February 18, 1700, and began using the Gregorian calendar on March 1, 1700. When possible, MyHeritage has converted Feast Dates to the corresponding Julian or Gregorian date. For example, a record may give the date of “6 p. Epiphany 1698”, but this has been translated to “February 13, 1698”. <br><br>This collection is provided in partnership with the Danish National Archives <i>(Rigsarkivet).</i>
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N. F. S. GrundtvigMarriage with Elisabeth Blicher on Aug 12, 1818
Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential people in Danish history, as his philosophy gave rise to a new form of nationalism in the last half of the 19th century.