Denmark, Copenhagen City, Civil Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

Denmark Copenhagen City

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of marriage licenses and records for the city of Copenhagen for the years 1851 to 1961.

Civil marriages were first allowed in Denmark in 1851. In Copenhagen city the marriage was recorded by a magistrate. The marriage was recorded in special notarial registers. These registers vary in content and arrangement by area. Some include a considerable number of supporting documents, such as baptismal certificates, while others record only the names and residences of the bridal couple. In 1923 the registration process was changed by legislation enacted in 1922. This made the mayor the registering officer in the cities and the parish sheriff the registrar in rural areas. The registration form was also standardized into a columnar format.

These records are an excellent source for validating the date and place of a marriage. If a marriage record for a couple cannot be found in the church registers, the civil marriage registers are an excellent source to check.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
'''Civil Marriage Records" usually contain:
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Marriage date
 * Ages, and sometimes the birth dates of the bride and groom
 * Residence of bride and groom
 * Occupation of the bride and groom
 * Names of witnesses
 * Names of parents

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before beginning a search in these records, it is best to know the full name of the individual in question, as well as an approximate time range for the desired record. When entered into the search engine on the Collection Page, this information provides the quickest, most reliable path to finding the correct person. Of course, other information can be substituted as necessary.

Search by Name by Visiting the Collection Page
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page to return a list of possible matches. Compare the individuals on the list with what is already known to find the correct family or person. This step may require examining multiple individuals before a match is located.

View Images in this Collection by Visiting the Browse Page
⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "Archive" ⇒Select the appropriate "Series and Title" ⇒Select the appropriate "Volume and Year" to go to the images.

Compare the information found on the images with what is already known determine if a particular record relates to the correct person. This process may require examining multiple records before the correct person is located.

Reading These Records
These records are in Danish. For assistance with this language, consult the Danish Word List page. On this page is a list of common terms found in Danish genealogical records as well as their English translations. There are also links to more a far more comprehensive word list broken down by letter. A PDF version of an older edition of the complete word list may be accessed with the following link:.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There may be indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the records of nearby localities.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Image Citation