Dansk Demografisk Database DDD (Danish Demographic Database)

History and Founding

The Danish Demographic Database (Dansk Demografisk Database, DDD) was initiated in 1992 as a collaborative project of the Danish National Archives (Rigsarkivet) and the Source Entry Committee (Kildeindtastningsprojektet, KIP). The project was designed to create a large, free, and publicly accessible database of transcribed Danish historical records, with the transcription work performed primarily by volunteers. A reception marking the project's twentieth year was held in 2012.

Collections and Holdings

The DDD provides searchable access to transcribed Danish census records from 1787 through 1930, which contain information on individuals' names, ages, occupations, marital status, birthplaces, and household composition. The database also includes emigrant records (Copenhagen Police Records of Emigrants from 1868), church registers divided by event type (baptisms, marriages, burials), a probate index for selected counties, and additional miscellaneous sources. Since 1787, Danish censuses have been conducted at regular intervals, with censuses often held every five years from 1834 onward.

Notable Materials Related to Journalism and Media

While primarily a genealogical and demographic resource, the DDD's emigrant records (tracking those who left Denmark for overseas destinations from 1868) and census data document the social conditions and population movements that shaped Danish public culture and the readership of the early Danish press.

Access and Usage

The DDD is freely accessible online at ddd.dda.dk and at the English-language interface at ddd.dda.dk/ddd_en.htm. Users can search for individuals, households, and families across multiple record types and census years. Searches can be refined by county, district, parish, year, age, sex, and name, with wildcard search supported.