Restricted access periods for records

Some records are protected by a restricted access period. Learn more about which information is protected and the deadlines for the most commonly used types of records.

About restricted access periods

Records transferred to the Danish National Archives are generally made available 20 years after their date of creation.

For some records, however, longer restricted access periods apply. The rules of availability are set out in the Danish Archives Act and are intended to safeguard private information and other confidential matters.

The Danish Archives Act can be found at Retsinformation.dk

Please note that individual rules for restricted access may apply to private archives transferred to the Danish National Archives. You can learn more about private archives in the section “Restricted access periods for certain records” below.

Apply for permission to view archival records

You can apply for permission to view records with restricted access.

Submit a request to view records

Information about individuals’ private affairs – access restricted for 75 years

Cases containing information about individuals’ private affairs are protected by a restricted access period of 75 years regardless of the context in which the information appears. This rule exists to protect individuals’ right to privacy.

Private affairs include, among other things:

Financial matters
Race
Religion
Matters regarding politics and unions
Criminal matters
Health-related matters
Sexual matters
Social matters

Individually set deadlines

In certain cases, the standard restricted access period of 20 years may be extended for reasons other than privacy considerations.

This includes information that requires special considerations, such as:

State security or national defense. Access to such information is generally restricted for 60 years.
The Danish Realm’s foreign policy or foreign economic interests. Access to such information is restricted for 30 years or more.
Matters regarding the Danish Royal House, e.g. in the archives of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Danish Ministry of Defence. Access to such information is restricted for 100 years
Designs of buildings (architectural drawings) that are currently used by courts, police and correctional facilities. Access to such information is restricted for 250 years.

The creator of the archive can contact the Danish National Archives to discuss an extension of the restricted access period. Periods exceeding 60 years can be set via negotiation with the Minister of Culture.

Restricted access periods for certain records

Confidential information may appear in all records. Accordingly, we are unable to provide a complete list of records subject to restricted access periods. The following list includes types of records that are among those most frequently accessed by users of the Danish National Archives.

Click on any of the headings below to view the restricted access period for records falling under that category.

Restricted access periods (Choose type of record)

Parts of the Danish Ministry of Defence’s archives are subject to restricted access periods set by the ministry itself (typically 60 years).

These restricted access periods are set to safeguard the security of the state ordefence of the Danish Realm.

Parts of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ archives are subject to individually determined restricted access periods.

These special restricted access periods are set to protect the foreign policy or foreign economic interests of the Danish Realm, including its relations to foreign powers or international organisations.

A special catalogue of cases with extended restricted access periods can be found in the reading room of the Danish National Archives in Copenhagen.

The archive of the Danish Royal Family is a private archive. The rules for accessing the archive of the Danish Royal Family are determined by the reigning king or queen.

The following rules apply:

Christian VII and older kings: freely accessible.
Later regents: submit an application in writing to the Danish National Archives.

See civil register, Southern Jutland

The restricted access periods for born-digital data is set out in Chapter 6 of the Danish Archives Act. There is no difference between born-digital records and paper records as far as restricted access periods are concerned.

Records are restricted for 20 years. If the records include information about individuals’ private affairs, the restricted access period is 75 years.

Born-digital data created within the past 20 years are restricted. However, with the consent of the issuing authority, the Danish National Archives may grant dispensation for use.

If the born-digital data contains information about individuals’ private affairs, they are restricted for 75 years. To grant dispensation for use, the National Archivist must obtain consent from the Danish Data Protection Agency or the Danish Court Administration.

Processing access requests that require consent may take up to 60 days. Applicants will be notified if the process is delayed (see sections 36-38 of the Danish Archives Act).

Marriage registers

Are freely accessible up to 1925, where registration ceased. They can be found on Arkivalieronline.

Death records

Are freely accessible up to 1977. Death records created after 1977 have not been transferred. Records created before 1960 can be found on Arkivalieronline.

Birth registers

Are freely accessible after 75 years. On Arkivalieronline, however, they are freely accessible up to and including 1960, as pages with particularly sensitive personal information are not displayed.

See Private archives

Court cases that contain information about individuals’ private affairs are subject to a restricted access period of 75 years.

The information can be found in the archives of police authorities and courts.

Criminal justice cases that contain information about individuals’ private affairs are subject to a restricted access period of 75 years. Other criminal justice cases can be accessed after 20 years.

Criminal justice cases include material regarding:

investigations
charges
convictions
execution of sentences
pardons

Tis type of information can be found in the archives of police authorities, prosecution authorities and the courts, as well as the archives of the Prison and Probation Service and Ministry of Justice.

You can apply for permission to view criminal cases. If you apply to access cases that fall under the criminal justice system and which were created within the last 50 years, a public hearing must be held by the authority that has transferred the records. The authority must respond no later than one month after it has received the application.

Employee cases contain information about individuals’ private affairs and are restricted for 75 years.

The cases are found in all types of archives.

Estate archives are private archives, and the estate owner sets the restricted access periods. This means that the restricted access period for each archive has been set individually.

Generally, large parts of estate archives can be used freely. More recent records and certain parts of the archives may be subject to individual restricted access periods.

Information about unfinished and finished exams constitutes information about individuals’ private affairs. These are restricted for 75 years from date of creation.

For anniversary/reunion events, the Danish National Archives can provide printouts of student lists for a fee. The printout contains names and dates of birth, but access to information about other peoples’ exam results is restricted.

Information about exam results is typically found in municipal archives, the educational institutions’ internal archives and the Danish Ministry of Education’s archives.

Fire insurance records are freely available.

However, certain access policies may apply in relation to some private fire insurance and credit companies.

Cases about residency in Denmark can be found in the Danish Immigration Service’s archives. These cases contain information about individuals’ private affairs and are subject to a restricted access period of 75 years.

Levying rolls/muster rolls contain information about individuals’ private affairs and are subject to a restricted access period of 75 years.

Please note that is the archive creator of the levying rolls are the printing districts, the levying rolls may span up to 15 years. The 75-year restricted access period starts the final year of the levying roll.

Records of motor vehicles subject to tax adjustment and tax exemption are restricted for 20 years after date of creation. This means that all records transferred to the Danish National Archives can be freely accessed in the archive’s reading rooms.

The National Register contains information about individuals’ private affairs and is restricted for 75 years from date of creation.

The provisions of the Danish Archives Act do not apply to private archives. The person transferring a private archive to the Danish National Archives sets the restricted access period for their archive.

Often, they choose the period set out in the Danish Archives Act relating to information about individuals’ private affairs, i.e. 75 years. Note that for private archives transferred before 2003, the restricted access period is usually set to 80 years.

In other cases, the archive creator (or their descendants) is required to grant permission to access and use the archive. If so, you have to obtain permission yourself from the archive creator.

The individually set restricted access periods can be seen in the archive database Daisy (currently only applies to RA).

Search for archives in Daisy

Private archives may be subject to copyright

Please note that private archives (as well as records in the manuscript collection) may be covered by copyright legislation. The copyright status of the material may be an important consideration if, for example, you wish to publish and reproduce private individuals’ archives that have been transferred to the Danish National Archives.

Material in private archives that is protected by copyright may not be copied, and any photographs may not be passed on without the permission of the copyright holder.

Copyright protects the exclusive rights of a creator (e.g. author or letter writer) or their heirs to works. Copyright protection applies for 70 years after the creators death.

Probate records, probate processes and wills/testaments contain information about individuals’ private affairs. These are subject to a restricted access period of 75 years.

Probate records and wills/testaments that are between 50 and 75 years old can be used with special permission. You can apply for the special permit in the reading room, where it will be processed immediately.

If you wish to view probate records that are less than 50 years old, you can apply for permission to access the records in the usual way.

Registered documents, deeds and mortgage records are freely accessible.

Search tools contain the reference that makes it possible to identify and find a case in an archive. The authority that created the records usually create the search tools as well.

Examples of search tools:

Name registers and directories
Subject registers and directories
Record plans
Records
Case lists

The restricted access period depends on the information contained in the search tools. The restricted access period is set according to individual assessment.

Search tools without information about individuals’ private affairs: access restricted for 20 years
Search tools with information about individuals’ private affairs: access restricted for 75 years
Search tools with other confidential information: individually set restricted access periods

You can receive special permission to view search tools to identify the records you wish to view. You can apply for the special permit in the reading room, where it will be processed immediately.

Midwife records contain information about individuals’ private affairs. These are restricted for 75 years.

Wills/testaments are subject to a restricted access period of 75 years.

You can use wills/testaments that are between 50 and 75 years old with special permission. You can apply for the special permit in the reading room, where it will be processed immediately.

If you wish to view wills/testaments that are less than 50 years old, you can apply for permission to access the records in the usual way.

See more

Apply for permission to view records

Some records are protected by a restricted access period, but you can still apply for permission to view that material.

Restricted access periods for records