Record Atlas
4 eras · 1397–2026 · 24 places

Copenhagen and north-east Zealand — the Capital Region

Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Lyngby, Hillerød. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1397–1537 Kalmar Union — Denmark no registers survive

Before registers. The Kalmar Union linked Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1397.

1537–1645 Denmark–Norway no registers survive

Before registers. Denmark and Norway formed a union in 1536–37; the union became an absolute monarchy by 1660.

1645–1814 Denmark–Norway — the capital Rigsarkivet — Arkivalieronline · FamilySearch

Danish parish registers are dated from an ordinance of 1645–46, and some parishes have earlier books. After the Treaty of Roskilde (1658) Charles X Gustav attacked Copenhagen in 1659 and was forced to withdraw.

1814–2026 Denmark Rigsarkivet — Arkivalieronline · FamilySearch

From 1812–14 pastors kept two copies of each register, the second held by the parish clerk. Danish censuses were taken in 1787, 1801, 1834, 1840 and later; sources list the later dates differently.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1397–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

24 places on this ground

167 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 107 more.

All record regions · The map