Police Registration Forms

Copenhagen: Police Registration Forms

The police registration forms (Politiets registerblade) are one of the most important records used in Copenhagen research. Searches in the registration forms can be made online. The registration forms must not be confused with the police census records which are another type of record.

Background

The Police Registration Forms (Politiets registerblade) is a register kept on loose sheets of paper at the City Archives of Copenhagen. They were taken by the Copenhagen police of every resident in Copenhagen, male as well as female, in the period 1890-1923.

Married women and children below the age of 14 were added to the husband’s/father’s record. There are no children under the age of 10. Married women and young children between 10 to 14 years old were listed in the form of the husband/the father. Young people were given their own form at the age of 14.

Each police district (that is Kreds) had their own registrations forms, sorted alphabetically by surname. The registers were constantly kept up to date. Every time a new resident came to the district, a child reached 14 years or a married woman was divorced or widowed a new registration form was made.

If a resident came from another police district in Copenhagen, the registration form followed the resident from the old to the new district. When the resident left Copenhagen the registration form remained in the police district where he or she latest had resided. If the resident moved back to Copenhagen, the police found the old registration form and added the new addresses.

The police was informed of deaths by the probate court. The record of the deceased was removed and put into a separate archive, the so-called “Dødeblade 1893-1823”. In some cases when the husband died the record was continued by his widow. This register “Dødeblade 1893-1923” is kept in the State Archives. They are not a part of the online records. 

In 1923 the Police Registration Forms were replaced by the Civil Registration (Folkeregister).

What You Typically Find

The typical information listed in the forms is:
Name
Date of birth
Place of birth
Occupation
Addresses in Copenhagen 1890-1923

For internal use the police would also add various notes to the records.

Access

The police registration forms have digitized by the City Archives of Copenhagen, that is they're are online. It's possible to search by name.

References

Read more about the Police Registration Forms.

Copenhagen