The Danish word pantebrev means mortgage deed.
Original mortgage deeds from our ancestors are rarely extant, except some in private collections. A transcript thereof can be found in the skøde- og panteprotokol (book of deeds and mortgages) for the jurisdiction where the real property lay. Deeds and mortgages deeds were tinglyst (publicized in court), meaning they were read out loud in court1 and transcribed into the book of deeds and mortgages.
An agreement about transfer of property or a mortgage loan was valid without publication, but it was easier to prove its validity when it had been publicized. Today publication of changes to real property rights is obligatory.
Footnotes
- The entire document was not always read out load, but sometimes just a statement about the parties, the property, and the kind of document.
- The image at the top is a drawing of a thing (a place of assembly for a governing body), see "Digital collections," database with images, The Danish Royal Library (https://www5.kb.dk/images/billed/2010/okt/billeder/object633169/en : accessed 18 April 2022), entry for "Tingsted ved Hallaberg, Häkleklint d. 27 May 1828" by Ole Jørgen Rawert. The image is public domain.
