Denmark, Copenhagen City, Civil Marriages, 1739-1965, Index 1877-1965

What is in This Collection?

The collection consists of marriage licenses and records for the city of Copenhagen for the years 1851 to 1961. Civil marriages (Borgerlige vielser) 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 called Borgerlige vielsesprotokoller, Ægteskabsprotokoller, or Ægtegkabsjournaler.

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 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 and renamed to Lysningsjournal.

Not all of these records include a date when the marriage was performed. If no date is recorded look at the image of the record to determine the date when the application was made. Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Reading These Records

These records are written in Danish. For help reading them see:

• Denmark Handwriting
• Danish Genealogical Word List
• Denmark Language and Languages

What Can These Records Tell Me?

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.

Collection Content

Records in this Collection

Sample Images

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  Civil marriage (Borgerlige vielsesprotokoller) 1887

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  Civil marriage (Borgerlige vielsesprotokoller) 1906

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  Marriage license (Lysningsjournal) 1922

Coverage Table

This table shows the number of marriage records per year included in this collection as of 25 June, 2021. Only records where a marriage date was recorded are listed on this table.

Digital Folder Number List

This collection was published as a DGS browse collection. A table listing each DGS number and its contents can be found at Denmark, Copenhagen City, Civil Marriages Digital Folder Number List. The list can be sorted by DGS number, record type, and year.