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

Danish Military Leyving Rolls: The Earliest Rolls from about 1788

The first Sunday of Advent 2018 has finally come, and I am excited to start sharing my readers’ family stories told primarily through the Danish military levying rolls. The index of the 1787 census of Herlufmagle Parish shows the twenty-one-year-old Mads Jensen, but the writing in the original record is unclear. Can the military levying rolls be used as evidence for the name of this young man?

by Lene Dræby Kottal

Advent Calendar 2018: Your Danish Military Levying Records Brick Walls

Send me your Danish military levying brick walls and get a chance to have the problems solved free of charge in my 2018 advent calendar!

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

A Signature with a Story: The Death of my Great-Grandmother's Brother

Seeing the original signature of my great-grandmother's brother reminded me of his cruel fate.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Types of Danish Probate Records

When looking for a Danish probate record, it is best to start by making a list of the available books for the relevant years.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

An 1892 Probate Record from the Danish Market Town Faaborg

Danish probate records sometimes contain information about the emigration of an ancestor or another relative.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

King Frederik VII and the Constitution of Denmark

King Frederik VII of Denmark started his reign as an absolute monarch, but less than one-and-a-half year later, on 5 June 1849, absolute monarchy was abolished when Frederik signed the Constitution of Denmark. The constitution granted the Danish people many rights; one of them was the freedom of religion, which had an impact on genealogical research in Denmark.

by Lene Dræby Kottal

Commemorative Medal for Participation in the Schleswig Wars of 1848-1850 and 1864

Danish soldiers, who took part in one or both Schleswig Wars of 1848-1850 and 1864 could apply for a commemorative medal. The applications have been indexed, so it is relatively easy to search for your Danish ancestors in these records. In this blog post I will teach you how to find your Danish war heroes.

by Lene Dræby Kottal, Certified Genealogist®

Koldskål - A Danish Summer Dish - and a Dish Called American Fruit Salad

Recipe collections can tell a lot about your ancestors. My great-grand aunt Else Marie Valborg Andersen Fisker (b. 1893 in Silkeborg, Denmark) left behind a notebook filled with recipes and one of them resembles my recipe for koldskål.

by Lene Dræby Kottal

Danish Marriage Records

From 1683 until 1851, marriage in a church was the only legal method of getting married in Denmark. A marriage record from this period is therefore found in the church records, also called parish registers. Since 1851, civil marriage has been an option for Danes. For family researchers this means more sources to search. I was married in a church eight years ago today. I am celebrating my anniversary with this introduction to Danish marriage records from three centuries.

by Lene Dræby Kottal

Did Your Ancestor Own Real Property in Denmark? Part 3

You can only find the address of the property or the correct map, with your ancestor's property if you know the name of the ejerlav (property area). In this post, I will demonstrate how to find the name of the ejerlav.

by Lene Dræby Kottal

Did Your Ancestor Own Real Property in Denmark? Part 2

In the first part of this tutorial series, I explained how to find a lot on an old map and how to find today’s address of the place. The search was based on the cadastral identification number found in a 1916 census record. However, in many cases we know neither the cadastral id number nor today’s address of the lot. In this part of the tutorial, I will demonstrate how to find the cadastral id number, when it is not written in the census or any other identified record.

by Lene Dræby Kottal

Did Your Ancestor Own Real Property in Denmark? Part 1

If your ancestor owned real property, you can learn a lot more about the living conditions of him and his family than if he had been a day laborer. If you are lucky, the building where your ancestors lived still exists today. Whether you know the address, the cadastral identification number or only the place name, it is often possible to find the exact lot on old maps from when your ancestors lived there. In this part of the maps tutorial, I will show how to find a lot, when you know the cadastral id number, for instance from a census.

by Lene Dræby Kottal