Danish Amtstue

In Denmark, the amtstue were financial districts. They mostly had the same boundaries as the original counties that existed 1660-1793.

The amtstue are important for genealogists because they recorded both tax records and some probate records.

Tax Records
Between 1662 and 1700, Denmark repeatedly waged and lost wars against Sweden with the intention of recapturing Scania, Halland, and Blekinge. In order to pay for these wars, the Danish crown repeatedly levied many extra taxes on the population. These are recorded in the corresponding amtstue. They cover almost all of the population and usually at least the head of household is named, but some name all people above the age of 12. Nearly the whole population will be named in the extra taxes. The only exception is those who were tax exempt such as the nobility.

Besides the extra tax lists, the amtstue recorded the regular tax records of those who leased their land from the crown or from an entity owned by the crown.

Probate Records
The amtstue usually recorded probates those who leased their land from the crown or from a crown owned entity. Prior to 1660, about half of all the land in the kingdom was owned by the king. After 1660, the crown sold off about half of this in order to prevent bankruptcy but even so, about 25% of the land was still owned by the crown. If your ancestor was part of this 25%, you will need to check the amtstue for their probate. This will not come up in the catalog if you simply search for the parish your ancestor lived and then click on probates. You need to know about the amtstue and go looking specifically for them in the catalog.