Denmark Church Records: Difference between revisions

__TOC__

The official Church of Denmark is Evangelical Lutheran which is stated in the 4th paragraph of the Danish Constitution. Religion plays a role in the lives of the Danish during events such as births and deaths. But like other Scandinavian countries, Denmark is largely secularized, and with the exceptions of occasions such as births and deaths, religion does not play a large part in public life. Still, approximately 80-85% of Danes are members of the Church of Denmark with about 5% of Evangelical Lutherans attending weekly services. In Copenhagen, around 66% of the population is counted among the church membership. Roughly 13% do not adhere to any particular religious belief.<ref>"[http://www.denmark.net/denmark-guide/religion-denmark.html Religion in Denmark]" denmark.net</ref>

Religious freedom is strong in Denmark and many faiths can be found there. In addition to the Church of Denmark, 3% of the population is Roman Catholic and 2% are Muslim. <ref>"[http://www.denmark.net/denmark-guide/religion-denmark.html Religion in Denmark]" denmark.net</ref> A small percentage adheres to the Old Norse religion which was established in the Middle Ages by the Vikings. <br>

*"Religion in Denmark." [http://www.denmark.net/denmark-guide/religion-denmark.html denmark.net]

*National Museum of Denmark [http://danmarkskirker.natmus.dk/ Danmarks Kirker] - Information on churches on the island of Fyn and the Jylland peninsula

In Denmark, the Reformation took a strong foothold, resulting in the near extinction of Catholicism in Denmark. The few vestiges that did hold on, were in the larger cities, including Copenhagen. The church records kept by the Catholic Church are nearly identical to the [[Denmark: Church Records|Lutheran church records]]. They consist mainly of christenings, marriages, and burials, and a few miscellaneous records such as confirmations. One of the few differences is that the occurance of the Latin alphabet and language is a lot more frequent than in the Lutheran records.<br>

At first the record-keeping requirement was limited to baptisms, marriages, and burials. Confirmation registers of many parishes date from as early as 1736.  

Parish Register Transcripts: (1814 to present) [''Kirkebogsuddrag''] – Entries are similar to those in the original parish registers; they cover losses in parish registers, often they include additional details not listed in the originals including birth dates of the bride and groom. NOTE: From 1814, general indexes were supposed to be kept in each parish with reference to christenings, confirmations, marriages, deaths, arrivals and removals. All these records are kept together in parishes and provincial archives.

=== Locating the Parish ===

To do effective research in church records, you must determine the parish that your ancestor's farm or village belonged to. To do so, see the postal guide listed in the "Gazetteers" section.  

As the Evangelical Lutheran Church (''Den Danske Folkekirke'')  became the official religion of Denmark after the Reformation in 1536, records not currently in use are deposited at the National Archives (''Rigsarkivet''). For information about records still held by the parish contact the local parish. Contact information can be found on the [https://www.folkekirken.dk/ Danske Folkekirken]'s website.