Census in Denmark

Census taking in Denmark started in its modern form in 1769, and the next two censuses were taken in 1787 and 1801. Problems that arose during the implementation and tabulation of the first census demonstrate the difficulties in establishing an efficient administration of population statistics from scratch. By trial and error during the course of the first three censuses, the administration learned how to carry out and tabulate a census so that by 1801 census taking had reached a form that could be used for the rest of the 19th century with only minor changes and additions.

In Danish historical demography a distinction is made between enumerations of the population for taxation purposes (mandtal) and real censuses carried out to obtain information about the size and composition of the population (folketællinger).

Mandtal were frequent in the 17th and early 18th centuries and ranged from lists with just the names and occupations of household heads to a few examples of detailed lists of all inhabitants with their position in the household, civil status, and age. In the towns, magistrates took these enumerations, while in the rural areas they were done by local royal civil servants, who were part of the lens (fief) and, from 1660, the amts (county) administration.

Census format

Census sheets used in the towns were different from those used in rural areas. The urban lists had the following nine headings:

1. Persons of rank, civil servants, and the like with their wives and children who lived at home.
2. The clergy, teachers, and students with their wives and children living at home.
3. (a) Sailors and fishermen, including those away on voyages, plus their wives. (b) Their children living at home.
4. Industrialists and handicraft masters with their journeymen and apprentices and their wives and children living at home.
5. Other citizens and inhabitants not included in headings 1–4 with their wives and children living at home.
6. All unmarried persons of either sex divided into the age groups in the upper part of the scheme.
7. All servants and day laborers.
8. People from the town, belonging to 1, 2, and 4 to 7.
9. Paupers, the handicapped, and mentally deranged persons.

1787 census

A detailed forestilling, dated March 13, 1787, provided the guidelines for the procedures. The enumerators would be the same as in 1769 and the census taking would occur on July 1. If the enumeration could not be finished that day, then care had to be taken that children born after census day were excluded and those who died after July 1 were included.

The 1801 census

The third census took place in 1801. The royal rescript of November 28, 1800, only stated that exact information about the size of the population and its distribution according to age, sex, and occupation would be ‘‘useful.’’ The census was taken in Denmark, Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland, but was postponed in the German provinces until 1803. Later research has only found minor errors, which might influence some local studies but was not significant for the overall results. Most of the procedure and instructions were the same as in 1787. The few differences demonstrate that the civil servants in the Rentekammer wanted to improve the quality of the census based on their experience with the earlier censuses. An important change was that the census took place on February 1, 1801. Fewer people were expected to be away from their homes at that time of the year. It was only the largest ships of the merchant navy, sailing part of the year in more southern waters, which were at sea in February. Most of the ships in the northern European trade stayed in port during the first three months of the year.

References

• Hans Christian Johansen, Early Danish census taking, 2004.
• Beck, M. (1990). Folketællingen 1801 pa Manø. Fortid og Nutid, 97–110.
• Bergsøe, A. F. (1844–53). Den danske stats statistik I–IV. Copenhagen: Bianco Luno.
• Brinch, B. (1972–74). Folketællingen 1801. Fortid og Nutid, 25, 279–298.