Denmark is a wonderful country to have as part of your family tree. It’s rich with records and, even better, the Danish National Archives has made many of its extensive records available online to browse for FREE!

The Dansk Demografisk Database, or Danish Demographic Database (hereafter called the DDD) in English, is a tool created by the Danish National Archives that serves as an every-name index to ALL the Danish censuses and there are a lot of them – 1787, 1801, 1834, 1840, 1845, 1850, 1855, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1901, 1911, 1916, 1921, 1925, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, and 1970.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The 1801, 1834, 1840,and 1845 are complete for the entire country and volunteers are working on all the other ones. From my own experience, I believe that all the censuses are at least partially indexed as I’ve used them to trace my Danish great grandmother’s family.

Those censuses up to 1930 are included in the DDD. If you need to view a later census, it will require a trip to reading room in the National Archives in Copenhagen.

Another important fact to know beforehand is that the DDD also includes a Probate Index and a list of Emigrants.

Notice in the top right under the header, there is a link for “Other databases in Danish.”

These collections include: Probates, Emigrants, Immigrants and other specialized collections.

Searching the census records is easy, but be aware that a transcription appears, not a link to the actual census image. Images must be accessed independently.

I chose Simple Search and entered information for Johannes Jensen in the 1845 census, living in Copenhagen. 17 hits popped up.

The 7th Johannes Jensen in the list was my guy – a soldier in the Danish Army, who was 35 years old.

Clicking on ALL DETAILS brings up the family:

The DOCU tab provides the source information:

That’s all there is to it.

Danish records are really fabulous so if you have Danes in the family tree, check out the Danish Demographic Database.

Person #3 on my list of somewhat neglected ancestors to research in 2022 is my 6X great grandmother, Giertrud Nielsen, baptized 17 November 1737 in Flade, Hjorring, Denmark.

Although Danish records existed long before Giertrud’s birth, there is a big stumbling block for me. Reading that old script in faded ink is quite overwhelming.

However, this line is particularly important to me as Giertrud is my earliest ancestress in my maternal line – the one that passes down mtDNA.

In this case, time has been on my side (I hadn’t worked on this line for over 5 years) because the Scandinavian staff at the Family History Library spend many hours adding data to the FamilySearch Family Tree.

I now have Giertrud’s line back one more generation to include her parents, and siblings, plus her father’s line is documented two more generations back in time.

Here is the family of Niels Christensen Aadstemand & Maren Nielsdatter, who lived in Flade, Hjorring, Denmark.

Niels Christensen Aadstemand was baptized on 29 August 1700, the son of Christen Christensen Aadstemand (c1665-after 1714) and Lisbeth Christensdatter (1680-1730) in the town of Flade, Hjorring Denmark.

He married Maren Nielsdatter, who was born c1704, sometime around 1731, probably also in Flade or a nearby town. Her parentage, unfortunately, hasn’t yet been determined. How I wish someone would find her family, as it would add still another generation to my mtDNA line.

Niels and Maren were the parents of five children. All events are in Flade:

1. Niels, baptized May 1732; died December 1782; married (1) Maren Svensdatter, 15 May 1758 (2) Eva Christensdatter, 10 September 1762 and (3) Karen Hansdatter, 9 November 1776.
2. Christen, baptized October 1734; died April 1805; married Margrethe Olesdatter, 3 December 1775.
3. Giertrud, baptized 17 November 1737; buried 13 November 1767; married Christen Christensen Donbech, 28 October 1756.
4. Karen, baptized November 1740; died 26 February 1818, Kirkevadet, Hjorring, Denmark; married Povel Nielsen, October 1760.
5. Lauritz, baptized February 1747; no further record.

Niels Christensen Aadstemand was buried 6 May 1764 in Flade, Hjorring, Denmark. Maren Nielsdatter, called the widow of Niels Christensen Aadstemand, was buried in 1787, sometime after the 1787 census was taken. She was living with her son’s family at that time. The church book has many torn pages, including the one recording her burial. The left side of the page, which had the exact dates, is missing, but the year is 1787.

Christen Christensen Aadstemand’s father was Christen Aadsteman, probably born c1630. His wife’s name is unknown. However, the wife of Christen Aadstemand was buried in Flade in 1694, aged 60 years.

My mtDNA line:

1. Maren Nielsdatter (c1704-1787), Flade, Hjorring
2. Giertrud Nielsdatter (1737-1767), Flade, Hjorring
3. Anna Christensdatter (1758-1842), Flade, Hjorring
4. Maria Catherine Jensdatter (1799-1855+), Flade, Hjorring
5. Anna Amalia Christensdatter (1823-1871+), Flade, Hjorring
6. Margrethe Bruun (1843-1890), Calais, Maine
7. Anna Elizabeth Jensen (1872-1916), Calais, Maine
8. Hazel Ethel Coleman (1901-1995), Massachusetts
9. Doris Priscilla Adams (1923-2008), New Jersey
10. Me!