Danish Genealogy Blog

Professional Genealogist Lene Kottal's blog about genealogy in Denmark

All posts Vital and Census Records Court Records Military Records Real Property Records and Maps Immigration and Emigration Manorial Records Danish Genealogy Words Miscellaneous Databases and Tools

Births in Danish Church Books: Information About the Parents

Danish parish registers with births and baptisms provide us with a wealth of information about the child’s parents. The information often appears in the same order. If you learn to recognize the typical sequence, it can help you decipher the text in the church book with your ancestor's birth.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Can You Find an Ancestor's Grave in Denmark?

Standing by the grave where our ancestors rest can give us a sense of their presence. Relatives that we have never met can feel more real when we visit their grave. When in Denmark, you may want to visit cemeteries of significance to your family history. But how do you find your Danish ancestor's grave? And will it even be there decades or centuries later? Learn about Danish burial customs in this blog post!

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Tracing Danish Ancestors in U.S. Records

Jill Morelli, CG, CGL, has written the guest blog post packed with information on how to find clues about your Danish ancestors in US records. It is best to research US records for as many clues as possible before trying to cross the pond back to the old country. Jill Morelli has Danish ancestors, so she uses her own Danish grandfather as an example in her tips.

by Jill Morelli, CG, CGL®

Denmark's Constitution: Freedom of Religion

Do you have ancestors who lived in Denmark in 1849? This year in significant to Danish history because the ratified the first Danish Constitution that year. It gave Danes several rights, including freedom of religion. Get tips for which records to examine to understand how freedom of religion impacted your ancestors' lives.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Family History Clues in Danish Obituaries

Obituaries are among the most valuable resources for exploring your family history. They offer more than just details about a person's passing. They contain a treasure trove of information that can help identify ancestors and other relatives. In this blog post, I have translated seven Danish obituaries from the 1800s. For each obituary, I state which clues I would follow in my continued research of the family.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Family history based on old bills, receipts, and letters

Old bills and letters can help tell our ancestors' family history. My grandmother Jenny Kirstine (Juhl) Hansen rarely threw away paperwork, which means we have a lot of documents that reveal details about the family's life. In this blog post, I share the information I gleaned from a change of address notification, a lease agreement, a bill, some receipts, and a letter from the municipality. All of this is tied into my mother's memories of the family's relocation from downtown Odense to the suburb of Bolbro in 1954.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Memoirs about Christmas in the 1860s – Danish Family History

Danish Christmas traditions have changed over the years. Furthermore, regional differences in the celebrations existed and still do. Even if your Danish ancestor did not write their memoirs, you might still be able to get an idea of their traditions. Someone else from the same time and area might have written their memoirs, such as Niels Peder Grønvald Nielsen of Ryslinge.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Donations to the Poor During Christmas 1774

In this blog post you can get a glimpse of Danish Christmas history on the basis of a newspapers from Copenhagen in 1774.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Arkivalieronline: The Danish National Archives Image Viewer

Arkivalieronline contains the digital collections of the Danish National Archives. If you are used to using the FamilySearch image viewer, it probably takes a bit of practice to get used to using the Arkivalieronline image viewer. In this blog post, I provide a guide and some tips, so you can get full advantage of the images, including those that are not available at FamilySearch.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Danish Ancestors: Why Did They Emigrate from Denmark?

Many of my clients want to know why their Danish ancestors emigrated. When the story has not been passed down in the family, the question cannot always be answered. However, in this blog post I give two examples of how you might find the reason for your ancestor's emigration.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Emigrant Ancestors: Denmark Passenger Lists

The Copenhagen Police not only kept registers of emigrants, but also passenger lists for the ships that sailed from Copenhagen. The Danish National Archives provide images of these passenger lists at Arkivalieronline. In this blog post, you can learn how to find your Danish ancestor in a Copenhagen passenger list.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Images: Copenhagen Police Emigrant Registers

The Danish National Archives have begun imaging the Copenhagen Police Emigrant Registers, which were kept from 1868 to 1952. The images are available at the free website Arkivalieronline.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®