The Danish National Archives have begun imaging the Copenhagen Police Emigrant Registers, which were kept from 1868 to 1952. The images are available at the free website Arkivalieronline. Some registers from 1868 to 1920 have been indexed.
Copenhagen Police Emigrant Registers: Available Images
Not all emigrant registers are imaged, yet. As of 16 July 2024, the following registers have been imaged:
- Both direct and indirect emigrants 1868: https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?epid=21658853#407927,75588410 This register has not been fully indexed, but there are images of a handwritten name index, sorted semi-alphabetically by the first letter of the surname: https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?epid=21638447#404115,74815489
- Direct emigrants 1869 to 1896: https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?epid=23436684#592779,91823184
- Direct emigrants 1913 to 1921: https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/other/index-creator/168/2487512/21995872
- Indirect emigrants 1869 to 1899: https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/billedviser?epid=23522257#612206,93238257
- Indirect emigrants 1911 to 1919: https://arkivalieronline.rigsarkivet.dk/da/other/index-creator/168/2487512/21995874
New images will be added regularly, usually once a month. I will strive to update the list when new images are made available. If the year you need has not been imaged, yet, you might want to bookmark this page, so you can easily get back here to check the updated list.
Example: Hans Thomsen from Tved, Svendborg
In the previous blog post, I demonstrated how to find Hans Thomsen from Tved, Svendborg County, in the index. The search results from the index provided the following information about him:
- Name: Hans Thomsen
- Age: 21
- Last residence: Tved, Svendborg
- Destination: Portland, Oregon, USA
- Ship name: Island
- Contract no. 1242
- Contract shown on 26 April 1892
To find Hans Thomsen in the images of the original emigrant register, follow the link to the direct registers for 1869-96. In the left-hand menu, expand the folder for years 1892-93 and click on one of the image numbers. If you are new to using this image viewer, you might benefit from reading my guide on how to use the Arkivalieronline image viewer.
The emigrant registers have alphabet tabs for the first letter of the emigrants' surname. Click the image numbers until you find the T tab (for Thomsen) and flip to page two of the T tab to find Hans Thomsen on line 7.
Beware that there could be more emigrants with the same name. Most nineteenth century parents were not creative with the names of their children. You can ensure that you have found the right person by comparing the contract number to the one listed in the database entry.
The snippet above shows a part of the page with Hans Thomsen from Tved. Click the image to see the full page in the collection.
If there is not a date or ship name on the line with your ancestor, it is usually safe to assume that the date and the ship name was the same as the last recorded date and ship name. Thus, the passenger Fr. Carl Therkildsen on line 3 probably emigrated aboard the ship Hekla, and his contract was shown on 12 April 1892.
You can still find the emigrant, if you don't have the ID code. On each tab, the emigrants are listed by the date the contract was shown to the Copenhagen Police, as listed in the database. The date format is day/month year. Use that piece of information along with the contract number to find the right emigrant.
Next Step: Find the Emigrant in a Danish Passenger List
The next step is to find the emigrant in a Danish passenger list. This option is only available for those who sailed from Copenhagen. If your ancestor emigrated indirectly, meaning from a foreign port, the passenger lists are not held by the Danish National Archives. If your ancestor sailed from Copenhagen, read the next blog post in this series to learn how to find your ancestor in the Danish passenger list.
