Background of DDSS
The DDSS database was started in 1996 by the staff at the Regional Archive of Lund. It is a product of 3 databases called the Demographic Database of Southern Sweden (DDSS), the Skåne Demographic Database (SDD), and the Malmö City Archive Birth Register Database. The goal is to create one database that has all the birth, marriage, and death information (up to 1894) for the parishes within the geographical area that the archive is responsible for. The regional archive of Lund has responsibility for the counties of Skåne (Malmöhus 1669-1997, and Kristianstad 1719-1997), Blekinge, and Halland. Although Halland belongs to the area jurisdiction of the regional archive of Lund, the data for Halland is being registered into the Svensk Lokalhistorisk Databas.
The DDSS database was created by volunteers (many of which are unemployed or unable to get employment), genealogists, and the staff at the regional archive of Lund. Because the data is also for academic use, every entry is reviewed by an experienced genealogist. Although this ongoing project has had economic challenges at times, the database has continued to grow. As of April 30, 2014 the database has over 1.5 million searchable entries from about 400 parishes. Over 23.6 million visitors have visited the website since 2003.
About the DDSS Website
The DDSS website offers many useful and interesting databases. The largest database is the Demographical Database for Southern Sweden. It has:
- A birth and christening database which includes data from the DDSS, Malmö City Archive Birth and Christening Database, and the Skåne Demographical Database (SDD.)
- An engagement and marriage database which includes data from the DDSS and SDD.
- A death and burial database which includes data from the DDSS and SDD.
- A migration database that is created from the parish moving-in and -out records of 9 parishes. This data came from the SDD.
The DDSS website allows you to search data from the three sources (DDSS, Malmö City Archive, SDD) at the same time. There are some restrictions to the data which are:
- No birth or christening entries are listed that are younger than 100 years
- No engagement or marriage entries are listed that are younger than 70 years
- No death or burial entries are listed that are younger than 70 years
- No causes of death are listed that are younger than 100 years
Other features include:
- First names, last names, titles, place names, and causes of death can be searched using a standard or non-standard spelling. If you want to search using a non-standard spelling type a quotations mark (“) before the word. The DDSS website offers a good page of search tips, see DDSS Search help.
- One of the great search tools is the wildcard. You can use the asterisk symbol (*) to replace one or more characters of a word. It can even be used multiple times in the same word.
- There are 2 ways you can find what parishes are included in the database. 1. You can click on the county that is shown on the DDSS home page. Then click on the Härad or City on the next map, and then browse down the list of parishes. 2. You can click on Databases, choose a birth, marriage, or death database and then use the drop down menu to see if a specific parish in included.
- The registration for a parish always begins with the records of the late 1800’s, and then progressively works back earlier in time. The earliest parish records are done last.
- You’ll find there is some inconsistency to the extracted data, for example some birth entries include godparents and others do not. This is because the birth data has been contributed by multiple organizations that had different rules in the extraction process.
The website also offers:
- A database which includes most of the marriages in the county of Halland, called the Vigselregister Halland which is available on the DDSS website. This database was created by the Hallands Släktforskarförening (Hallands Genealogical Society.)
- A database called Sveriges Skepplistor, which is a database of Swedish ships between the years of 1837 and 1885. The data is from published ships lists that are in the Regional Archive of Lund.
- The Karlskrona Sjömanshusdatabas (Karlskrona Seaman’s Home) is a collaborative effort by ArkiVara in Karlskrona, the Municipality of Karlskrona, and the Regional Archive in Lund. They are extracting the registration records from the Karlskrona Seaman’s Home between the years of 1871 and 1937. This pertains to all seamen who registered and donated money to their future care, and retirement.
- The Öknamnen i Örkened database (Nicknames in Örkened) which is a database built upon the nicknames that were associated to the people and place names in Örkened parish in Skåne County. Historically many people had nicknames in their local parish. The goal of this database is to register the different nicknames used in Örkened parish, discover their origin, and associate these names to the people and places they belonged to.
- A transcription copy of the ministerial book of Osby parish (C:1) from 1697 – 1690 in PDF.
Another option on the DDSS website is the Temasidor (Theme pages.) This part of the database offers tools, and presentations (in Swedish) on various subjects including:
- Given names in a historical context
- Last names in a historical context
- A list of place names in Skåne and Blekinge
- Occupations and Titles
- Demographic Statistics
Use for Swedish Genealogy?
- Search for birth, marriage, or death information for about 400 parishes in Skåne (Malmöhus and Kristianstad), and Blekinge Counties.
- The DDSS is especially useful in the cities where there are parishes without a specific geographical boundary (non-territorial parishes.)
- Search for migration information from 9 parishes in Skåne.
- Search for a marriages in Halland County.
- Search place names of the villages and farms in Skåne and Blekinge Counties.
- See maps of the Härads in Skåne and Blekinge Counties.
- A transcription copy of the Osby ministerial book from 1647 – 1690.
Database Information
Swedish Name: Demografisk Databas Södra Sverige, DDSS
English Name: Demographical Database for Southern Sweden
Purpose: To create a database of birth, marriage, and death information for all the parishes in Skåne (Malmöhus, Kristianstad), Blekinge, and Halland. It was created for genealogists, local historians, educators, historical societies, academic research in demography, and medical research.
Created by: The Regional Archive of Lund (Landsarkivet i Lund)
Format: Online at http://www.ddss.nu/
Cost: Free
Language: Swedish, English
Sources:
- The Demografisk Databas Södra Sverige (DDSS) website
- Haskå, Guno. Släkthistorisk Forum: Person- och lokalhistoria i undervisningen. Sveriges Släkforskarförbund, no. 2, 2004