Record Atlas
6 eras · 1160–2026 · 5 places

Copenhagen — the capital and its coast

Copenhagen, Christianshavn, Tårnby, Charlottenlund, Hørsholm. 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
1160–1416 Bishop Absalon's town no registers survive

Before registers. Valdemar I gave control of the town to Bishop Absalon about 1160, and the town received its charter in 1254.
1416–1658 Crown town of the Danish kings no registers survive

Eric of Pomerania took control in 1416 and the town came under crown rule. The university was founded in 1479 and Christian IV's coronation in 1596 began a major expansion including Nyboder and Christianshavn.
1658–1849 Denmark-Norway: the capital Rigsarkivet — Arkivalieronline · FamilySearch

The city withstood a Swedish siege in 1658-59. Fires destroyed about a third of it in 1728 and a quarter in 1795, and British attacks fell on it in 1801 and 1807.
1849–1940 Constitutional monarchy Rigsarkivet — Arkivalieronline · FamilySearch

Denmark became a constitutional monarchy on 5 June 1849; the ramparts were opened and removed from the 1850s to the 1870s. In 1901 surrounding communities were incorporated, leaving Frederiksberg as an enclave.
1940–1945 German occupation Rigsarkivet — Arkivalieronline

Occupation began on 9 April 1940 and ended with liberation by British troops in May 1945.
1945–2026 Denmark Rigsarkivet — Arkivalieronline · FamilySearch

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, 1160–2026, 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.

5 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