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MyHeritage to digitize and add more than 120 million historical records from Denmark
Millions
of records dating back to the 1600s will go online for the first time
and enable anyone with Danish ancestors to discover their roots
TEL AVIV, Israel & COPENHAGEN, Denmark – December 22, 2014: MyHeritage,
the leading destination for discovering, preserving and sharing family
history, today announced that millions of Danish historical records will
be made available to search on its website. The announcement follows an
agreement between MyHeritage and the Danish National Archives to index
Census and Parish records from 1646 to 1930, providing access to
significant sources of family history information in Denmark. The move
will enable MyHeritage users to learn more about their ancestors and the
lives they led, using records that were never digitally available
before.
The
records, spanning almost 300 years, provide a window to the lives of
Danish ancestors during fascinating periods in history including the
Napoleonic wars, liberalism and nationalism of the 1800s, the Schleswig
Wars and industrialization. Users will be able to search for records
about their ancestors using names, dates, locations, relatives and other
keywords via SuperSearch, MyHeritage’s
search engine for historical records. MyHeritage users also enjoy
powerful matching technologies that research their family trees
automatically and notify them whenever Danish records relevant to their
family are found. This makes discoveries easier and quicker than ever
before. Once indexed, this will be one of the most comprehensive and
valuable data collections for millions of Danes, and millions of people
with Danish roots.
The
records will illuminate the lives and times of noted Danish historical
figures such as Kierkegaard and Niels Bohr. Celebrity fans will be able
to look into the family history of Danish Americans such as
Scarlett Johansson and Viggo Mortensen for clues on their success. Many
of the records will be made available on MyHeritage as early as April
2015 and the rest will be added during the year.
MyHeritage
will index Danish national censuses, including approximately 9 million
images and 31 million records, covering the years of 1787 through to
1930. One of the most enlightening sources of historical content,
census records provide a glimpse into a family's past listing
information about each household including the names of occupants,
information on residence, ages, places of birth and occupations.
In
addition, MyHeritage will index 3.9 million images of Church records
containing approximately 90 million names from 1646 to 1915. The Parish
Register provides information regarding anyone who was born, baptized or
confirmed (after 1737), married or died in a particular parish. The
records include rich information about a person's family: for example,
for baptisms they list the date of birth, date of baptism, name of the
child, parent’s names, occupations and residence, and often names of
witnesses and godparents.
MyHeritage
Chief Content Officer, Russ Wilding, said: “We're very proud to partner
with the Danish National Archives and add significant new content which
will paint a more detailed and colorful picture of the family histories
for hundreds of thousands of our users in Denmark and anyone with
Danish ancestors. The move strengthens our leadership in the Nordic
region – and we look forward to building on this in the coming months”.
MyHeritage
is already the family history market leader in the Nordic region and is
the only major company providing services in Danish, Norwegian, and
Finnish. With more than 430,000 users in Denmark and an additional
600,000 registered users in Sweden, 500,000 in Norway, and 280,000 in
Finland, MyHeritage has amassed the largest Nordic user base and family
tree database in the market.
About MyHeritage
MyHeritage
is the leading destination to discover, share and preserve your family
history. As technology thought leaders and innovators in the space,
MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s
accessible and instantly rewarding. Trusted by millions of families, its
global user community enjoys access to a massive library of historical
records, the most internationally diverse collection of family trees and
ground-breaking search and matching technologies. MyHeritage empowers
families with an easy way to share their story, past and present, and
treasure it for generations to come. MyHeritage is available in 40
languages. www.myheritage.com