Danish and American Archives

Danish Emigration Archive (DEA)
Danish Demographic Database (DDD)
List of DDD census records
Source transcription project
Sammenslutningen af Lokalhistoriske Arkiver (The Association of Local History Archives) - SLA
To order churchbooks and census records on microfiche
Online census for �rhus Amt
Online census for Holbæk Amt
Online parish churchbooks
Online death records for Voer, Torslev, and Albæk sogns Dronninglund, Hjørring from 1814 to 1891

Danish Emigration Archive (DEA)
If your ancestors emigrated after 1868, you might be able to find them in the emigrations lists, that were kept by the police in Copenhagen. This, however, will only be possible, if they bought a contract-ticket from an emigration agent with an office in Copenhagen. Why are emigrants in police archives? The police did not keep records of emigrants - but of all the contracts signed between agents and emigrants. This was done to prevent "smart" agents from cheating possible emigrants by taking their money, and conveniently "forgetting" to purchase tickets, helping with travel arrangements, etc. So, if your ancestor - for some reason - travelled independently, you will not find him or her in the emigration records! Most people had a contract with an agent, but not all. Sometimes one or two family members (e.g. a father and a grown son, two brothers , etc) would be the first to emigrate and then later send back tickets for the rest of the family. Also, if your ancestor traveled to America by way of another country (like the United Kingdom) they also will not be in this database. Here is the URL for the DEA FAQ site: http://ddd.sa.dk/faq_uk.htm
When searching persons or place-names with the letters �, � and � use this syntax:
Sk_rum for Sk�rum
K_benhavn for K�benhavn
Vesterg_rd for Vesterg�rd
If names may be spelt in more than one way type this way:
Andr%s for Andres and Andreas
Pe_er for Peder and Peter
The previous and following hints are thanks to listmember Frede Haahr Nielsen:
Headings:
Name, Occupation, Age, Destination,
Navn (NVN), Stilling (STL), Alder (ALD), Bestemmelsessted (BEST),
 
Contract No., Reg. date, Birthplace,
Kontraktens nr. (KTR), Forevisningsdato (DATO), F�dested (FST),
 
Birth Parish, Last residence, Dest. county, Comments, IDcode
F�desogn (F�D), Sidste opholdssted (SOS), Best. land (BES), IDkode
 
Remarks will be given after the shortening ANM which means anm�rkning (= Remark)
 
If a query in DEA gives the name of a ship it will be like this, i.e. the abbreviation ANM (remark) will be followed by the ship's name:
Olsen, Peter Laur. And., Kommis, 17, Chikago, 2147, 6/7/1892, ?, ?, Kbhvn; USA, ANM: "Hekla", D9293O0613
 
or this example:
S�rensen, S�ren, Landmand, 42, N. York, 994, 4/18/1871, , ?, Kongerslev, Aalb., USA, ANM: Direkte - se D7181S0107. Forevist 20.4.1871 afrejst med "Denmark"
 
Other remarks can tell if the person travels alone, because his father is in USA already:
J�rgensen, Rasmus, Dreng, 15, New York, 1912, 11/12/1875, , -, Barrit S., Veile A., USA, ANM: Faderen er i Amerika., I7477J2810
 
Here is a person who didn't leave and one will only waste time searching in the immigration archives:
Jensen, Ane Johanne, Barn, 11 1/2, Cresco, Iowa, 1054, 5/14/1875, , -, Estrup, H�rby, Hj�rring, USA, ANM: Ikke Afg�et., I7477J1803
 
And here follows information about the IDcode:
The contract # isn't the number of the ship, but simply the number of the contract. The ID code refers to the ledger, page and line #. "I" stand for "Indirect" passage and "D" stands for "Direct" passage.
For instance:
Qvist, Peder Martin Ingenior, 22, New York, 585, 3/20/1869,,-,Kbhn.,USA,,I6969Q0101
Qvist, Christian Ludvig, Lojtnant, 24, New York, 171, 5/28/1876,,-,Frederiksberg,USA,,I7477Q0105
 
E.g. for I6969Q0101:
I = indirect passage
6969Q = the ledger for the year 1869, containing last names beginning with the letter Q
0101 = page 1, line 1
 
and for I7477Q0105:
7477 = the ledger for the years 1874-1877, containing last names beginning with the letter Q
0105 = page 1, line 5

The Danish Demographic Database (DDD)
Danish census database from 1787 to 1916. Please note that NOT ALL census information is online and when searching, don't try to give too much information. In this case, less is more. It is worth your while to read their instructions. When you are finished click on the "Back" button in your browser because if you click on their "Return to query form" at the bottom of the page it will take you to the *Danish* version of the form. Also, the DDD server is known to go down for long periods at a time so be sure to check back periodically.

http://ddd.dda.dk/asp/oversigtform_uk.asp
Here you can enter a name of a parish, county, year, etc., and get a list of all available records.

Source transcription project
Overview of all transcribed census records. In cooperation with DDA (Dansk Data Arkiv) and the organization DIS Danmark (Databehandling i Sl�gtsforskning) we bring countymaps showing which census records are being transcribed at the moment and which have already been made available in the source transcription project. Once a month the maps will be updated with the records that have been made available in the DDD (Dansk Demografisk Database).

http://www.lokalarkiver.dk/Basis/hele_siden.htm
A list of all the local history archives is found in the SLA Address List, which is revised annually. The letters SLA stand for Sammenslutningen af Lokalhistoriske Arkiver (The Association of Local History Archives). Together with the Association of Local History Societies (Sammenslutningen af Lokalhistoriske Foreninger, SLF), the SLA publishes a quarterly, "Lokalhistorisk Journal", which carries book reviews and notices of new local historical literature and activities. All local history archives hold comprehensive collections of photos, and several of them have collections of negatives from old photographers, so that it is possible to have copies made of photos that have long since disappeared. Finally, many of the local history archives hold collections of local newspapers and magazines, and frequently, indices for the newspapers have been prepared. Be advised that this site is entirely in Danish but you can get a good start by clicking on "Links til lokalarkiver" or Links to Local Archives.

Statens Arkivers
This is where you can order both churchbook (1765 - 1891) and most census records on microfiche and CD-ROM. The site is in Danish so have your dictionary handy. The easiest way to order is via e-mail by filling out their form. Click here for order form.

Århus Amt Census
This page has four census from �rhus county: 1787, 1801, 1834, and 1835. There is also an English glossary to the census.

Holbæk Amt Census
This page has a map of Holbæk Amt with all the parrishes. Clicking on a herred will take you to all the different census for that area. The concentration appears to be on the years of 1787, 1801, and 1840.

Online Parish Churchbooks
The Danish Archives have started scanning parish churchbooks, and making them available online! So far 23 books are online with scans that can be viewed for each page. The interface is in Danish but very easy to figure out. Imagine the convenience of not having to depend on the delivery of microfilm to family history centers. Bravo to the Danish Archives!!

Online death records for Voer, Torslev, and Albæk sogns Dronninglund, Hjørring from 1814 to 1891
This page belongs to Keld Jensen. He also includes the 1890 census for Torslev.