, nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = , logo_width = 300px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = File:Rigsarkivet.jpg , picture_width = , picture_caption = Danish National Archives, Copenhagen. One of four reading rooms that make up the archive's system. , formed = , preceding1 = Gehejmearkivet (1296–1883) , preceding2 = Kongerigets Arkiv (1861–1884) , preceding3 = Statens Arkiver ( –2014) , dissolved = , superseding = , jurisdiction =

Government of Denmark The Cabinet of Denmark ( da, regering) has been the chief executive body and the government of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1848. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister. There are around 25 members of the Cabinet, known as "ministers", all of wh ...

, headquarters =

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, coordinates = , motto = , employees = 260 , budget = , minister1_name = , minister1_pfo = , minister2_name = , minister2_pfo = , deputyminister1_name = , deputyminister1_pfo = , deputyminister2_name = , deputyminister2_pfo = , chief1_name = Anne-Sofie Jensen , chief1_position = Director , chief2_name = , chief2_position = , agency_type = , parent_department = The Ministry of Culture , parent_agency = , child1_agency = , child2_agency = , keydocument1 = , website = , footnotes = , map = , map_width = , map_caption = The Danish National Archives ( da, Rigsarkivet) is the national archive system of

. Its primary purpose is to collect, preserve and archive historically valuable records from central authorities, such as ministries, agencies and national organisations and make them available to the public. The archive is part of the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

. Previously the term Danish State Archives (Danish: Statens Arkiver) was used as the collective name for the archive system. In 2014 the archives were reorganised, and the name Rigsarkivet (which had previously only applied to the Danish National Archives in Copenhagen) became the new collective name for the entire archive system.

History

Organisation as the Danish State Archives

Prior to 2014, Danish State Archives was the term used to refer collectively to these archives: * ''Danish National Archives'' (

) * ''Danish Data Archives'' (

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

) * ''Danish National Business Archives'' ( Aarhus) *Regional Archives: ** ''Provincial Archives of Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm'' (Copenhagen), closed in 2012 when its collections were merged with the ''Danish National Archives'' in Copenhagen. ** ''Provincial Archives of Southern Jutland'' (

Aabenraa Aabenraa (; , ; Sønderjysk: ''Affenråe'') is a town in Southern Denmark, at the head of the Aabenraa Fjord, an arm of the Little Belt, north of the Denmark–Germany border and north of German town of Flensburg. It was the seat of Sønderjyl ...

) ** ''Provincial Archives of Funen'' (Odense) ** ''Provincial Archives of Northern Jutland'' ( Viborg) Regional archives held records transferred from regional authorities, like courts of law, the county authorities, the police and many other

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

. Records from central authorities, such as ministries, agencies and national organisations, were held at the ''Danish National Archives''. The ''Danish National Business Archives'' kept registers,

document A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" o ...

s, etc. from companies and organisations in the business sector. The ''Danish Data Archives'', the newest of the seven archive holding bodies, kept historical and social science studies such as registers, databases and other electronically stored information.

Reorganisation in the 2010s

In 2014, the Danish State Archives were reorganised, and the separate archives became reading rooms in a larger archive system. On 1 October 2014, the name ''Danish State Archives'' (Danish: Statens Arkiver) was replaced with the name ''Danish National Archives'' (Danish: Rigsarkivet). The new Danish National Archives were organised as: *''Danish National Archives, Copenhagen'' (formerly the Danish National Archives in Copenhagen, which had absorbed the collections of the Provincial Archives of Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm in 2012) *''Danish National Archives, Aarhus'' (formerly the Danish National Business Archives) *''Danish National Archives, Aabenraa'' (formerly the Provincial Archives of Southern Jutland) *''Danish National Archives, Odense'' (formerly the Provincial Archives of Funen) *''Danish National Archives, Viborg'' (formerly the Provincial Archives of Northern Jutland)

Reading Rooms

Today, the Danish National Archives includes four reading rooms: the National Archives in Copenhagen, Aabenraa, Odense, and Viborg. Until 2015, the archives also had a reading room in Aarhus; its collections have since been moved to Viborg. (''In Danish'')

Danish National Archives, Copenhagen

The archive was founded in 1889 out of two older national

archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

, ''Gehejmearkivet'' (1296–1883) and ''Kongerigets arkiv'' (1861–1884). In 2012 the collections of the Provincial Archives of Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm were merged into the Danish National Archives. In 2014, the ''Danish National Archives'' was renamed ''Danish National Archives, Copenhagen'' and the term ''Danish National Archives'' came to represent all of the former Danish State Archives collectively. Today, the headquarters of the Danish National Archives, Copenhagen are located next to Christiansborg Palace on

Slotsholmen Slotsholmen (English: The Castle Islet) is an island in the harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, and part of Copenhagen Inner City. The name is taken from the successive castles and palaces located on the island since Bishop Absalon constructed the c ...

. A new purpose-built storage building was opened in 2009 at

Kalvebod Brygge Kalvebod Brygge (literally "Kalvebod Quay") is a waterfront area in the Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. The name also refers to a section of the Ring 2 ring road which follows the waterfront from Langebro in the north to the H. C. Ør ...

. It was designed by PLH Arkitekter. The Danish National Archives, Copenhagen holds the archives of the Danish overseas trading companies, including the archives of the

Danish East India Company The Danish East India Company ( da, Ostindisk Kompagni) refers to two separate Danish-Norwegian chartered companies. The first company operated between 1616 and 1650. The second company existed between 1670 and 1729, however, in 1730 it was re-fo ...

, the Danish Asiatic Company, the

Danish West India and Guinea Company The Danish West India Company () or Danish West IndiaGuinea Company (') was a Dano-Norwegian chartered company that operated out of the colonies in the Danish West Indies. It is estimated that 120,000 enslaved Africans were transported on the com ...

, and the

Danish West India Trading Company Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

, a collection which reflects Denmark's relations with foreign countries such as the European States, Russia, Turkey, North African states and the American states. The archives of the Danish overseas trading companies were inscribed on

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

’s

Memory of the World Register Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...

in 1997. The Sound Toll Records, which provide detailed information about every ship and cargo that entered the Baltic and departed from the Baltic through the Danish straits starting in the 15th century, are held at the Danish National Archives and in 2007, the collection was inscribed on the

. The documents are stored on electrically powered

mobile shelving Mobile shelving, mobile aisle shelving, compactus, roller racking, or rolling stack, are terms applied to shelving or storage units fitted with wheeled traction systems. Units can be closely packed when access is not required, but can be readily ...

– double-sided shelves, which are pushed together so that there is no aisle between them. A large handle on the end of each shelf allows them to be moved along tracks in the floor to create an aisle when needed. The units have a small AC or DC motor hidden in the base that automatically moves the units when a single button is pressed.

Danish National Archives, Aabenraa

Danish National Archives, Odense

The Provincial Archives of Funen () first opened in Odense on 1 November 1893. The first visitor came two weeks later. The archives in Odense were the second of the three provincial archives envisioned in the first Danish archive law of 30 March 1889. They accepted archival material from state authorities, local authorities and individuals within the geographical area of the former

Funen County Funen County ( da, Fyns Amt) is a former county (Danish: ''amt'') in central Denmark, comprising the islands of Funen, Langeland, Tåsinge, Ærø, and approximately 90 other islands, of which only 25 are inhabited. The county was formed on 1 Ap ...

. In 2014, the Provincial Archives were renamed as the ''Danish National Archives, Odense'' as part of the reorganisation of the Danish archival system. Prior to the system's reorganisation, the Provincial Archives of Funen received approximately 10,000 visitors annually, and its magazines stores contained approximately 20 km of archival material.

Danish National Archives, Viborg

Danish National Archives, Aalborg

Prior to 2014, the archives in Aarhus were a separate branch of the Danish State Archives, known as the ''Danish National Business Archives'' (). They collected source material about Danish business development through time. Private companies and organizations were not obligated to supply information so collection happened on a voluntary basis through negotiations and agreements for voluntary submissions. The oldest material is from the 1500s, while the majority from the period of 1850–1950. The collection consisted of about 7000 archives from companies from all sectors of the economy. The archival database ''Daisy'' continues to contain the registries over the former collections of the Business Archive, now a part of the Danish National Archives. The business archive was established as an independent institution in 1948. In 1968 it was taken over by the state with a special law and in 1992 it became part of the State Archives. Before the archives moved to the present building in 1962 the archives were kept in the basement under the City Hall between 1948 and 1950, then under the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

building until 1956 and then in the buildings of a former railway station of the defunct Aarhus- Hammel line. In September 2014, it was announced that the State Archives would move the Business Archives to Viborg and merge it with the Provincial Archives of Northern Jutland in 2015–2016.

References

External links

The Danish National Archives
Archives in Denmark Government of Denmark

Buildings and structures in Copenhagen Buildings and structures in Aabenraa Municipality Buildings and structures in Odense Municipality Buildings and structures in Viborg Municipality {{library-struct-stub