The National Archives of Denmark, Statens Arkiver-Rigsarkivet, is the primary archive of Denmark.

The Risarkivet has thousands of online collections for genealogy and family history research with millions of digitized records.

They have an online records search engine called Daisy.

Search Daisy

OR

Arkivalieronlin Search window

Select a subject and search collections from there

OR

Below is a list of all collection groups with direct links to individual collections. Individual collections may have hundreds of sub-collections.

Kirkebøger / Church Books / Parish Registers

• Church Books from the Caribbean (Danish West Indies)

• Church Books from around the country

• Church Books, Jutland (Kirkebøger), births, marriages, deaths – a search window

• Church books from overseas congregations (parish records, births, marriages, deaths, burials)

• Church Books – Registers and Aids/Denmark Parish Registers (1600-1927) (registers are also included in Church Books from around the country)

Censuses

• 1787 to 1940 Denmark Census Records

• Magistrates – Funen, records of how municipalities were governed in the 1800s in Denmark, includes some census lists

• German Census Maps, 1885 (with info on Danish subjects living in Prussia)

Caribbean

• Accounting (Caribbean)

• The British Occupation (Caribbean) 1801-1815

• Cadastral (Caribbean)

• Census (Caribbean) includes name, age, sex, religion, family, place of birth, also church records & births and deaths

• Church Books from the Caribbean (Danish West Indies)

• Church and Mission (Caribbean)

• Craft and service sector (Caribbean)

• Crew Lists (Caribbean)

• Defense (Caribbean) – St. Thomas, St. Croix, Guinea, St. John

• Foreign Administration (Caribbean) correspondence and dealings between Danish West Indies and other foreign governments (1700s to early 1900s)

• General Administration (Caribbean)

• Gold Coast (Caribbean) present-day Ghana, this colony was linked administratively to the Dutch West Indies (slave trade)

• Health (Caribbean) mid 1700s to early 1900s, all types of records related to health care and health care providers in the Danish West Indies (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, etc)

• Justice and Law (Caribbean)

• Maps and drawings (Caribbean) (maps of each Danish Colony in the Caribbean, Guinea, India, and Nicobar Islands)

• Nature (Caribbean)

• Persons (Caribbean)

• Plantations (Caribbean)

• Police, prison and fire departments (West Indies)

• Post and Telegraph (Caribbean)

• Public facilities and buildings (West Indies)

• Schools (Caribbean) Records about the school system in the Danish West Indies (St. Croix, Guinea, etc)

• Shipping (Caribbean) late 1600s to late 1800s, records on shipping and trading in Danish West Indies & Danish East Indies, ship records, inventories, many types of records, with names of ships, islands visited (St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, etc)

• Slaves (Caribbean) mid 1700s to mid 1800s, this collection contains records about slave legislation, how slavery was managed, slave conditions, its focus is not individual slaves but includes some mention of individual slaves

• Social conditions (Caribbean) late 1700s-early 1900s, social services in the Danish West Indies including assistance to the poor, welfare, pensions, work conditions, etc

• Switching Administration (Caribbean), Read more about Switches

• Transaction (Caribbean) accounts & records from Danish trading companies

Aids

• Drop Records, Danish State Railways records, a few from the 1800s, mainly from the mid-1900s

• Archive Academic Literature (including landowners probate, and many other titles that would need to be explored individually to ascertain the contents)

• The Danish representations, delivery of records to State Archives of Danish embassies and consulates abroad

• The Schleswig wars (records created during and long after the wars of 1848-1850 and 1864, primarily records donated from private archives)

• Judicial and law enforcement authorities-Registers and Aids, police and court records throughout Denmark, 1500s-1900s

• Business Archives – various indexes (includes alphabetical indexes, Norway, Denmark, Copenhagen, Zealand & surrounding islands)

• Film listings-these appear to be lists of microfilm at the Denmark State and National Archives with titles of what’s on the film-not records themselves

• Defense archives – Registries and Aids (Armed Forces personnel and records from the Denmark military)

• Attachment Office -Records and aids (name records to determine if your ancestors were serfs)

• Information brochures and other printed matter, 1900s to present, brochures, leaflets, etc from the National Archives

• Source Collections (letters, name records, tax and land books, ancient records as early as the 1200s)

• Denmark Parish Registers (1600-1927) Church Books – Registers and Aids (registers are also included in Church Books from around the country)

• Lavsarkiver-Registers and Aids, records of various trades, crafts, journeymen, including member lists (1600s-1900s)

• Maps and Plans – Registers and Aids

• Municipality Archives – Registries and aids

• Navnekartoteker – Land for Nørrejylland (one of these says Family Names and is organized alphabetically)

• Nutrition Services – Registries and Aids (Citizenship records, Directories, and “nourishment permits and bourgeoisie, so you can find your ancestors if they have been self-employed”)

• Private Archives – Registers and Aids (A miscellaneous collection of archives donated from individuals, organizations, and associations. You would need to explore each collection individually to ascertain its contents.)

• Registries-Business Archives, Danish business archive directory, information may be outdated

• Registries-Provincial Archives of Funen, archive directory of records sets released by the Provincial Archives of Funen

• Registries-Provincial Archives of Northern Jutland (Nørrejylland), archive directory of records sets released by the Provincial Archives of Northern Jutland (Nørrejylland) 1600s-1900s

• Registries-Provincial Archives of Zealand mm, archive directory of records sets released by the Provincial Archives of Zealand

• Registries-Provincial Archives of Southern Jutland, archive directory of records sets released by the Provincial Archives of Southern Jutland

• Registries – National Archives (Danish Archive Directories covering a wide range of topics – parish records, railway records, government papers, trade, shipping, etc. You would need to explore each collection individually to ascertain its contents.)

• Registries various (miscellaneous record sets including parish registers, name books, naturalization patents, patronage, land records, marriage records, government records, etc.)

• Seal Collection – Registries and Aids

• Probate Office – Records and Aids (1642-1934) (handwritten logs of probate records)

• Topographical collection/Topografisk samling, 1171-1882

• Foreign Ministry – Records and Aids (registers and records from the Foreign Ministry)

Find Your Relatives

• Attachment Office -Records and aids (name records to determine if your ancestors were serfs)

• Attachment Protocols cards and notes a search window

• Birth Foundation in Copenhagen (1759-1933) for births and records of babies and possibly mothers needing state assistance and often foster care/adoption

• Birth Foundation in Jutland / Birth Institution in Jutland (1910-1935) for births and records of babies and possibly mothers needing state assistance and often foster care/adoption

• Business Archives – various indexes (includes alphabetical indexes, Norway, Denmark, Copenhagen, Zealand & surrounding islands)

• Denmark Censuses 1787-1940

• Church Books from the Caribbean (Danish West Indies)

• Church books from overseas congregations (parish records, births, marriages, deaths, burials)

• Church Books, Jutland (Kirkebøger), births, marriages, deaths – a search window

• Church Books – Registers and Aids/Denmark Parish Registers (1600-1927) (registers are also included in Church Books from around the country)

• Church Books from around the country

• Civil Marriages Search window for civil marriages from 1851-1960, 1851-1923, “where civil marriage could be concluded in town and the district bailiffs, marriages entered in the protocols concerning. civil marriage or notarialprotokollerne. Wills can also be introduced in the latter. 1923-1960 marriages introduced in civil giftefogeders protocols.”

• Commemorative Medal for the Wars of 1848-50 and 1864, “Applications from combatants in the two Silesian wars. The applications contain information about employment, participation in battles, whether the applicant was wounded and much more.”

• Death Certificates (1857 – 1980) (handwritten death certificates from Denmark, Faroe Island, Cayman Islands, other Islands)

• Defense archives – Registries and Aids (Armed Forces personnel and records from the Denmark military)

• Denmark Probate Index 1657-1878

• Family Justice Matters, Copenhagen, the Bureau (1858-1989) adoption, paternity, child support and divorce

• Lavsarkiver, archival records of various trades, crafts, journeymen including member lists (late 1500s to late 1800s)

• Lavsarkiver-Registers and Aids, records of various trades, crafts, journeymen, including member lists (1600s-1900s)

• Lægdsruller from Copenhagen (1847-1956) mandatory registration for Danish Men who can be conscripted for military service (DOB, father’s name, place of birth/residence, height, disabilities, if conscripted-which unit & where)

• Lægdsruller from across the country (1789-1956), mandatory registration for Danish Men who can be conscripted for military service (DOB, father’s name, place of birth/residence, height, disabilities, if conscripted-which unit & where)

• Manuscript Collection, A wide range of topics from different parts of Denmark, including some church records, letters, Danish-Norwegian personnel history, etc.

• Military and Defense, almost 100 different collections of military records from the 1600s to the early/mid 1900s including directories and lists

• Military herd books and personnel records (1700s-early 1900s) (information about military personnel)

• Nutrition Services – Registries and Aids (Citizenship records, Directories, and “nourishment permits and bourgeoisie, so you can find your ancestors if they have been self-employed”)

• Personal Data Files Jutland, births (1874-1960), marriages (1874-1925), deaths (1874-1969) in Southern Jutland

• Private Archives – Registers and Aids (A miscellaneous collection of archives donated from individuals, organizations, and associations. You would need to explore each collection individually to ascertain its contents.)

• Registries various (miscellaneous record sets including parish registers, name books, naturalization patents, patronage, land records, marriage records, government records, etc.)

• Remembrance pages for fallen Schleswigers 1914-1918 (biographies arranged alphabetically by last name of Schleswiger)

• Switches from Copenhagen, “Different types of change records from Copenhagen until ca. 1919. Switching system in Copenhagen was very different from the rest of the country. Read more about Switches“

• Switches, the country, until 1919, except Copenhagen Read more about Switches

• Switches/Change Material, Jutland (Skiftemateriale, Sønderjylland), Read more about Switches

• Switches, military/Skitfter, militære, 1600s-1700s, “Change materials from military authorities, rider regimes, etc. Read more about Switches“

• Patronage and Guardianship, 1700s-1800s, includes some wills/probate

• Probate Office – Records and Aids (1642-1934) (handwritten logs of probate records)

Find a Property

• Fire Insurance, “taxation protocols describe the individual property’s appearnce and quality”

• Christian the 5th cadastral, 1664-1688, land books including land ownership and quality of land

• Digitized Things Books, 1927-2000 (large collection, slow to open, many land records, mortgages, sale of property, etc)

• King Valdemar Jordebog, 1190-1300 and 1936, land book from the 1190s

• Cadastre of Aarhus borough Bygrunde, land register covering 1845-1920

• Land Registers/Cadastral – Land records/registries for the purpose taxation, primarily the 1800s, some 1700s, all over and many types of records

• Real Registries conveyance and mortgage records “Real registers is a kind of table of contents for the conveyance and mortgage protocols. Until 1927, the registers dates deeds which, easements and mortgages. Ordered by parish, owner associations (and title number).”

• Sønderjysk registration-Land Records with owners, title, tax, liens, etc.

Jutland and duchies

• Aabenraa borough, historical, government, and daily life records from the Municipality of Aabenraa in Denmark

• Alphabetical Lists (lægsruller) – alphabetical lists created by Prussian leaders 1845-1920, similar to lægsruller, required military registration for all men for potential conscription

• Censuses, Denmark 1787-1940 (includes Jutland censuses)

• Church Books, Jutland (Kirkebøger), births, marriages, deaths – a search window

• Civil Marriages, Jutland, several Jutland parishes – a search window

• Country Counselors 1867-1920, Jutland

• County Courts 1867-1920, Jutland, court records including land records, trade records, legal matters handled by courts in throughout Jutland (the portion of Denmark that touches European Continent)

• DSK-membership card, Sønderborg department member directory of Danish-minded Sønderjyske War Participants

• Foreningen To Løvers kartotek over sønderjyske desertører, 1915 registered deserters

• Generalsuperintendenten (1741-1884)

• German Census Maps, 1885 (with info on Danish subjects living in Prussia)

• German Chancellery – Domestic department (1312-1864, the Ministry of Schleswig, “When King Christiern I in 1460 inherited the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, it was necessary for the king to have both a German and a Danish chancellery.”)

• German Chancellery’s foreign department (records include other countries such as Sweden, Spanish Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Scotland, Switzerland, Saxony, Prussia, Portugal, Poland, Pomerania, Pope (Vatican), Netherlands, England, France and more)

• Haderslev town, historical, government, and daily life records from the town of Haderslev in Denmark

• Lavsarkiver, archival records of various trades, crafts, journeymen including member lists (late 1500s to late 1800s)

• Lavsarkiver-Registers and Aids, records of various trades, crafts, journeymen, including member lists (1600s-1900s)

• Legal Officers until 1867, Jutland (the title is deceiving, this includes legal officers and proceedings-estates, inheritance taxes, and more-throughout all of Jutland from the late 1600s to the late 1800s)

• Personal Data Files Jutland, births (1874-1960), marriages (1874-1925), deaths (1874-1969) in Southern Jutland

• Registries-Provincial Archives of Southern Jutland, archive directory of records sets released by the Provincial Archives of Southern Jutland

• Remembrance pages for fallen Schleswigers 1914-1918 (biographies arranged alphabetically by last name of Schleswiger)

• Schleswig Holstein county accounts (1587-1867, land books, tax books, customs accounts, county records)

• Sønderborg borough, historical, government, and daily life records from the Municipality of Sønderborg in Denmark

• Sønderjyske local authority (Southern Jutland archives local records, 1500-1920)

• Sønderjyske prisoners of war, World War I, index, list of prisoners of war, primarily Schleswigers

• Sønderjysk registration-Land Records with owners, title, tax, liens, etc.

• The Schleswig wars (records created during and long after the wars of 1848-1850 and 1864, primarily records donated from private archives)

• The Sønderjyske Princely Archives (Souther Jutland/Schleswig), archives of South Jutland Princes including history  of Denmark, correspondence, churches, schools, judgments, border disputes, and a wide range of other topics.

• Tønder Købstad, 1543-1919 (Historical information about a city including all civic matters, military cases, court and police cases, churches, schools, poverty, commercial, etc.)

Other Collections

• Amtstuer, land register, tax, land books, other

• Business Affairs (1909-1972), business regulation

• Christiansø fortress/Christiansø fæstning, 1700s-late 1800s, “Archives from Chrstiansø fortress at Bornholm”

• Church: Provsti are

• Church: priest, pastoratet, and parish (no parish records or probate but everything else)

• Companies and businesses (1704-1977)

• Conciliation Commissions, 1795-1953, a search window for settlements in civil and mediation matters for marriage disputes, libel, master-servant disputes, etc

• Counties and County, all types of records from County Archives, hundreds of collections from various counties in Denmark

• Country Counselors 1867-1920, Jutland

• County Courts 1867-1920, Jutland, court records including land records, trade records, legal matters handled by courts in throughout Jutland (the portion of Denmark that touches European Continent)

• Customs, the late 1400s to mid- 1900s

• Danish Chancellery (1513-1848 “When King Christiern I in 1460 inherited the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, it was necessary for the king to have both a German and a Danish chancellery.”) This includes Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, German, Russian, Dutch, French, English, Greenland, and Iceland records and more.

• The Danish Government in Stade (1712-1715)

• Democracy in the inter-war period, the late 1800s but primarily around 1920

• Estates, baronies, counties, and master houses

• Foreign Ministry – Records and Aids (registers and records from the Foreign Ministry)

• Gehejmekonseilet, “King’s High Council 1670-1770”

• German Chancellery – Domestic department (1312-1864, the Ministry of Schleswig, “When King Christiern I in 1460 inherited the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, it was necessary for the king to have both a German and a Danish chancellery.”)

• German Chancellery’s foreign department (records include other countries such as Sweden, Spanish Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Scotland, Switzerland, Saxony, Prussia, Portugal, Poland, Pomerania, Pope (Vatican), Netherlands, England, France and more)

• Indenrigsministeriet 1848-1967, records of Ministry of the Interior & Ministry of Local Government

• Industry association’s exhibitions (1872-1888) Nordic industry, agriculture, art exhibitions and participants with lists and reviews

• Interest Chamber, 1660-1848, Information on taxation, loans, much more

• Rentekammeret Tyske Afdeling, Tyske Kammerkancelli (Interest-chamber German chamber, German Kammerkancelli) the financial affairs of the monarchy

• Judiciary: The Supreme Court, Landsting and high courts (1500s-1900s)

• Justice: Admiralty Court (Retsvæsen: Admiralitetsretten), 1611-1613

• Justice and law enforcement authorities-Registries and Aids, police and court records throughout Denmark, 1500s-1900s

• Justice: Judges and Courts after 1919 a search window for lawsuits, see page for information about searching for land and probate

• Justice: King’s judgment/Retsvæsen: Kongens rettering “Supreme Court predecessor, the highest court of the country. Here you will find parts of the district court’s archive 1536-1660, including Applications, votings and judgments.”

• Justice: Legal officers until 1919

• Justice Protocols and land registers, 1600s-1900s, land registers and criminal and civil legal cases

• Lavsarkiver, archival records of various trades, crafts, journeymen including member lists (late 1500s to late 1800s)

• Legal Officers until 1867, Jutland (the title is deceiving, this includes legal officers and proceedings-estates, inheritance taxes, and more-throughout all of Jutland from the late 1600s to the late 1800s)

• Lens accounts (1559-1662), records pertinent to Denmark’s history (kings and wars)

• Magistrates – Funen, records of how municipalities were governed in the 1800s in Denmark, includes some census lists

• Mail services, 1700s-1900s with collections from England, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, possibly others

• Manuscript Collection, A wide range of topics from different parts of Denmark, including some church records, letters, Danish-Norwegian personnel history, etc.

• Maritime, 1600s-late 1900s

• Market towns and boroughs/Købstæder og købstadskommuner

• Medical Districts mm, vaccination protocols 1800s-1900s

• Military and Defense, almost 100 different collections of military records from the 1600s to the early/mid 1900s including directories and lists

• Ministry of Justice, mid-1800s – mid-1900s

• Ministry of transport, (1836-1972) construction of railways, road, and ferry routes

• Municipalities in the country

• Naval Dockyards drawings, 1630-1890, drawings of ships, ports, and more

• Older accounts (1433-1559), old records with financial accounting in Denmark

• Parchments (0942 -1450) extremely old documents on parchment, some land records and miscellaneous records/transactions

• Pianos from Hornung and Møller, 1827-1972, records from piano makers with names of original owner of each instrument

• Private associations directories of members, rules of governance (late 1800s-early 1900s)

• Private Individuals (1600s-1900s), Archives donated by private parties including Christian Klim, Niels Kristensen, Christian Lemvigh, Anders Skeels, Otto Skeels estate, Donald Skeel, Charlotte Amalie, Charlotte Charisius, Christen Skeel, Søren Vig-Nielsen (letters, deeds, estates, pictures, etc)

• Prisons, Punishment and Correction improve houses (1700s-1900s, lists of prisoners, capture photos, prison records)

• Retsvæsen: Admiralitetsretten (1611-1613) “Maritime court that worked 1611-13. From the court could be appealed to the King’s …”

• Retsvæsen: Kongens rettering (1500s-1600s), “Supreme Court predecessor, the highest court of the country. Here you will find parts of the district court’s archive 1536-1660, including Applications, votings and judgments”

• Ringsted Bailiff

• Schleswig Holstein county accounts (1587-1867, land books, tax books, customs accounts, county records)

• Schools (1700s-1900s), records from different schools, universities, and teachers in Denmark

• Social conditions, health care, hospitals and foundations (1700s-early 1900s) records relating to social services, the elderly, needy, and sick

• Sound Toll Accounts, 1497-1856/Øresundstoldregnskaber and Sound Contra Customs Accounts, 1660-1856/”Consists of Øresundstold accounts, covering the period from 1497 to 1856, as well as Øresund accounts, covering the period from 1660 to 1856.”

• State Council records, (1848-1953), chaired by the king, records of bills and affairs of state

• Tamper Court, Viborg (1717-1797) 

• The equestrian estates, crown land was divided into rider districts in the late 1600s, more explanation at link

• Tønder Købstad, 1543-1919 (Historical information about a city including all civic matters, military cases, court and police cases, churches, schools, poverty, commercial, etc.)

• Viborg Country Stings dombøger, North Jutland county council records, deed, inheritances, and more

• War 1864, material about the Schleswig War 1864

• Watersschout in Copenhagen and Elsinore (1746-1871) registration of sailors, information about the sailors