OpenHistoricalMap/Projects/Denmark
OHM Denmark in 1905
Copyright of maps in Denmark
Maps published in Denmark by the government since early 1800s generally are subject to a special copyright that never expires. For this reason, tracing from maps that carry any marking such as Generalstabens topografiske Afdeling, Kongelige Søkort-Arkiv, Geodætisk Institut etc. should be avoided even if they appear to be out of copyright by the normal rules.
More information: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_rules_by_territory/Denmark
Administrative divisions
Proposal for mapping boundaries:
- Map internal boundaries (Amt, Kommune, Herred, ...) using boundary lines that closely follow the coast, about 100-200 m distance from the coastline. This reduces the need for excessive revisions to the divisions with minor changes to the coastline.
- Map modern international boundaries using the published coordinates:
- In 1999, Denmark adopted territorial sea boundaries based on 12 nautical mile limit (wikipedia:UNCLOS)
- In 1966, Denmark adopted territorial sea boundaries based on 3 nautical mile limit defined by coordinates (baseline) in "AND nr 437 af 21/12/1966".
- Map earlier international boundaries using available sources (maps/nautical charts). If no sources are available, assume a 3 nautical mile territorial sea.
See OpenHistoricalMap/Maritime_Boundaries for a more general project around maritime boundaries.
Comparison to OpenStreetMap
See also Denmark/Da:Administrative_boundaries.
In OSM, administrative boundaries of regions and municipalities in Denmark do not include territorial waters (towards the sea) but also don't include many internal waters (bays, fjords). Lakes and rivers are generally included. These boundaries are made up of coastline segments. The boundary relations at the country level in OSM include territorial waters based on current international agreements (since 1999 generally 12 nautical miles off the coast except where other agreements exist).
Boundaries in OHM can follow a similar approach, where lower administrative units (Region, Amt, Kommune, Herred, etc.) use coastline, and country boundaries include whatever territorial waters are claimed at the time. In practice, this could cause boundary relations to get very large since every island and islet needs to be included as a separate boundary member. It also means that administrative boundaries need a new boundary relation whenever the coastline changes anywhere in the administrative division, which would happen every time land is reclaimed, a harbor is expanded, etc. A more practical approach could be to offset the boundary slightly from the coast, about 100-200 m.
More discussion: https://forum.openhistoricalmap.org/t/how-should-we-handle-territorial-waters-or-should-we-include-shorelines-in-boundaries/154
Country/Kingdom/Realm
Denmark (proper) vs Kingdom of Denmark
OSM currently has Kingdom of Denmark (9112011 9112011) as a boundary relation that contains Denmark (proper), Faroe Islands and Greenland. This is a
boundary=administrative
without any admin_level=*
tag. The only equivalent in OHM is currently Danish Realm (2849655 ) (1944-). This should be extended further back in time and included in a chronology for Kingdom of Denmark. The WikiData entry for Kingdom of Denmark/Danish Realm is wikidata:Q756617.
The OSM relation for Denmark (proper) is 50046 50046. This is a
boundary=administrative
with admin_level=2
. The WikiData entry for Denmark (proper) is wikidata:Q35.
OHM currently has a chronology for Denmark (2801214 ) though the tagging does not clearly disambiguate between Denmark proper and Kingdom of Denmark. All of the contained boundaries in this chronology include areas outside of Denmark proper.
To Do:
- When did the distinction between Denmark proper and Kingdom of Denmark first appear? (i.e. when should a chronology for Denmark (proper) start and when should a chronology for Kingdom of Denmark start?)
- Create separate chronologies and clean up the membership so boundaries for the kingdom are in one chronology and boundaries for Denmark proper are in the other chronology
- Clean up the country boundaries that are currently intersecting the coastline in many places and convert them to maritime boundaries that are offset from the coast
Sources
- Lov om afgrænsning af søterritoriet. LOV nr 200 af 07/04/1999. (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/1999/200): Maritime boundaries of 12 nautical miles from coast, or midpoint when the coast of another country is closer than 24 nautical miles. Inner territorial waters include harbors, fjords, bays, sounds, etc. OSM users have determined this to mean that inner administrative boundaries should technically end at the coastline. New boundary becomes effective May 1, 1999 with details to be published (see below).
- Bekendtgørelse om afgrænsning af Danmarks søterritorium. BEK nr 242 af 21/04/1999. (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/1999/242): This contains the exact coordinates for the boundary effective May 1, 1999.
- Bekendtgørelse af noteveksling af 22. og 28. oktober 1970 med Forbundsrepublikken Tyskland om ændring af søgrænsen i Flensborg Fjord. BKI nr 22 af 05/03/1973 (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/ltc/1973/22)
- Anordning om afgrænsningen af søterritoriet. AND nr 437 af 21/12/1966. (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/1966/437): Maritime boundaries of 3 nautical miles
- Bekendtgørelse om en mellem Danmark og Sverige afsluttet deklaration med tilhørende Søkort og Noteveksling angaaende Grænseforholdene i Sundet. BKI nr 41 af 22/02/1932 (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/1932/41/)
- Bekendtgørelse angående grænsen mellem Danmark og Tyskland således som denne er fastsat af den i Henhold til Bestemmelsen i Versaillestraktatens Artikel 111 nedsatte Grænseafstikningskommission. BKI nr 497 af 21/12/1923 (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/1923/497)
Summary of higher admin levels
admin_level=* |
boundary=administrative |
boundary=religious_administration
|
---|---|---|
4 | Region | - |
5 | Amt (County) | - |
6 | Herred (Hundred) | - |
7 | Kommune (Municipality) | - |
8 | - | - |
9 | Ejerlav (Cadastral community) | - |
10 | wikipedia:da:Rode (område) (København) | Sogn (Parish) |
11 | - | - |
Regioner (Regions; 2007-)
These divisions were created by wikipedia:da:Strukturreformen in 2007.
boundary=administrative
admin_level=4
(as in OSM)border_type=region
name=*
(name of the region)wikidata=*
(wikidata ID of the region)wikipedia=*
(wikipedia article for the region)source=*
For the initial extent, tag with:
start_date=2007-01-01
start_event=Strukturreformen 2007
start_event:wikidata=Q3197410
start_event:wikipedia=da:Strukturreformen
See Tag:boundary=administrative#admin_level
Name | OHM link |
---|---|
Region Hovedstaden (Scheduled to merge with Region Sjælland in 2027) | ![]() ![]() |
Region Midtjylland | ![]() ![]() |
Region Nordjylland | ![]() ![]() |
Region Sjælland | ![]() ![]() |
Region Syddanmark | ![]() ![]() |
Sources
- Note: The existing regions have no source tags and may have been copied from OSM or official sources, both of which have incompatible license.
- BEK nr 656 af 29/06/2005
- Definition of initial (2007) extent of regions with reference to the previous municipality boundaries, and in some cases, modifications by swapping individual lots as identified by cadastral numbers (matrikelnummer).
Amter (Counties; 1662-2007)
Potentially these could use level 5 instead since they smaller than the regions (which are mapped in OSM at level 4) but currently level 4 is used:
boundary=administrative
admin_level=4
border_type=county
name=*
(name of the county)wikidata=*
(wikidata ID of the county)wikipedia=*
(wikipedia article for the county)source=*
For instances of counties created from the 1793 county reform (needs source that lists start dates for all counties). The changes following the 1793 reform were not implemented immediately, so a more specific start date should be added:
start_date=1793
start_date:edtf=1793~
(or add specific start date and source)start_event=Kongelig Resolution af 1793-09-04
For instances of counties created from the 1970 municipal reform:
start_date=1970-04-01
start_event=Kommunalreformen 1970
start_event:wikipedia=da:Kommunalreformen_(1970)
Counties have not been static through this period.
Should be tagged with the same admin level as counties:
- Syssel?
- Len (similar to Amt before 1662)
Name | OHM link |
---|---|
Aabenraa Amt | To Do |
Aalborg Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Aarhus Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Bornholms Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Frederiksborg Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Københavns Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Roskilde Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Fyns Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Haderslev Amt | To Do |
Hjørring Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Holbæk Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Maribo Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Nordjyllands | ![]() ![]() |
Odense Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Præstø Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Randers Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Ribe Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Ringkøbing Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Skanderborg Amt | To Do |
Sorø Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Storstrøms Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Svendborg Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Sønderborg Amt | To Do |
Sønderjyllands Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Thisted Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Tønder Amt | To Do |
Vejle Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Viborg Amt | ![]() ![]() |
Sources
- Regional (county) maps in Trap, 2nd edition
- “Sogn-Herred-Amt (Slægt&Data)”. DIS-Danmark. 2011. ISBN 87-90044-02-9 .
- Includes details about major revisions to the counties and their boundaries
Herreder (wikipedia:Hundred (county division))
According to wikipedia:da:Herreder_i_Danmark#Afvikling, this administrative division gradually lost importance starting from 1919 (Retsplejeloven af 1916 entering into force in 1919) so 1919 might be a good end date for these boundaries, though some sources seem to use 1970 as the end date.
Many of these divisions are mentioned in wikipedia:da:Kong_Valdemars_Jordebog, meaning they must have existed around 1200-1300.
boundary=administrative
admin_level=6
border_type=hundred
name=*
(name of hundred)end_date=1919
(based on suggestion above)start_date=1300
(Trap Danmark sometimes has more specific notes about possible start dates or earliest known mention)wikidata=*
(Wikidata ID of the hundred)source=*
Example:
- Lynge-Kronborg Herred (Frederiksborg Amt):
2856326
Overpass query for all elements:
relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
(
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["admin_level"="6"];
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="hundred"];
);
out geom;
Sources
- Regional maps in Trap, 2nd edition include herred boundaries
- All Trap Danmark 1st-3rd editions contain individual descriptions of each hundred.
Kommuner (Municipalities; 1803-)
Originally based on parishes, each created from 1-3 parishes combined into a sognedistrikt (parish district):[1]
boundary=administrative
admin_level=7
border_type=civil_parish
name=XXX Sognedistrikt
(name of parish district)wikidata=*
(Wikidata ID of the parish district)start_date=1803
start_event=Reglement om Fattigvæsenet (civil social services)
start_event:related_law=Reglement af 5/7 1803
source=*
Around 1842 is considered the beginning of actual municipal administration, called Sognekommuner. The local administration outside of market towns (købstader) was established with Anordning af 13/8 1841 to begin operating 1842-01-01.[1]
boundary=administrative
admin_level=7
border_type=municipality
name=XXX Sognekommune
(name of municipality)wikidata=*
(Wikidata ID of the municipality)start_date=1842-01-01
start_event=Anordning om Landkommunalvæsnet
start_event:related_law=Anordning af 13/8 1841
source=*
Market towns (købstader, handelsplads) should probably appear at the same admin level as a type of municipality:
boundary=administrative
admin_level=7
border_type=municipality
name=XXX Købstad
(name of market town)source=*
1970 Municipal Reform
This reform abolished the distinction the distinction between market towns and other municipalities, as well as reducing the number of municipalities.[1]
For instances of municipalities created from the 1970 municipal reform:
boundary=administrative
admin_level=7
border_type=municipality
name=XXX Kommune
(name of municipality)wikidata=*
(Wikidata ID of the municipality)start_date=1970-04-01
start_event=Kommunalreformen 1970
start_event:wikipedia=da:Kommunalreformen_(1970)
2007 Municipal Reform
For instances of municipalities created from the 2007 municipal reform:
boundary=administrative
admin_level=7
border_type=municipality
name=XXX Kommune
(name of municipality)wikidata=*
(Wikidata ID of the municipality)start_date=2007-01-01
start_event=Strukturreformen 2007
start_event:wikidata=Q3197410
start_event:wikipedia=da:Strukturreformen
Overpass query for all elements:
relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
(
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["admin_level"="7"];
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="municipality"];
);
out geom;
Sources
- Christensen, Harry (1976). “Danske landkommuner 1842-1970”. Viborg: Landsarkivet for Nørrejylland .
- This source outlines the history of municipalities outside of market towns (sognekommuner) with reference to the parishes that the municipalities were based on.
- BEK nr 656 af 29/06/2005
- Definition of new 2007 municipalities with reference to the previous municipality boundaries, and in some cases, modifications by swapping individual lots as identified by cadatral numbers (matrikelnummer).
Ejerlav (wikipedia:Cadastral community)
See also wikipedia:da:Ejerlav. Land parcels are organized by ejerlav with each parcel having a unique number (matrikelnummer) within the cadastral community.[2]
Outside of cities, these areas mostly coincide with a hamlet, village, or town of the same name.
boundary=administrative
admin_level=9
border_type=cadastral_community
name=XXX
(name of cadastral community)
Overpass query for all elements currently mapped this way:
relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
(
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["admin_level"="9"];
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="cadastral_community"];
);
out geom;
Sogne (Parishes)
Boundaries for religious administration but also important for the civil administration since the initial municipalities were based on parish boundaries. It is hard to provide specific start dates for parishes since most of them may have existed for a 1000 years or more. The specific boundaries may have been fairly stable over time but there are limits to how far back in time this stability can be confirmed.[3]
boundary=religious_administration
admin_level=10
border_type=parish
name=XXX Sogn
(name of parish)wikidata=*
(Wikidata ID of the parish)
Example:
- Alslev Sogn (Ribe Amt):
2858089
Overpass query for all elements:
relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
(
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="religious_administration"]["admin_level"="10"];
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="religious_administration"]["border_type"="parish"];
);
out geom;
Sources
- Regional maps in Trap, 2nd edition include parish boundaries
- All Trap Danmark 1st-3rd editions contain individual descriptions of each parish.
Rode (wikipedia:da:Rode (område))
Used (only?) in Copenhagen. Still maintained today, but only as a statistical subdivision.
boundary=administrative
admin_level=10
border_type=rode
name=XXX Rode
(name of rode)source=*
Example:
- Ørstedsparkens Rode
2866343
Overpass query for all elements:
relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
(
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["admin_level"="10"];
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="rode"];
);
out geom;
Sources
- The description of Copenhagen in Trap, 3rd edition includes precise boundaries for quarters (kvarterer) and their subdivision into roder.
Other divisions
- Stift, Provsti (other religious divisions;
boundary=religious_administration
) - Gejstlig herred vs. verdslig herred (religious vs civil)
- Lægd, udskrivningskreds (related to military conscription)
- Birk (
boundary=judicial
?) - Amtskreds (
boundary=electoral
?), Amtskommune, Statsamt
Resources
Trap Danmark
J.P. Trap. Statistisk Topografisk Beskrivelse af Kongeriget Danmark (see also wikipedia:da:Wikipedia:WikiProjekt_Trap_Danmark and Projekt Runeberg)
The first three editions are considered out of copyright.[4] In addition, none of the included maps appear to be based or include any data from government maps that would be covered by the special perpetual copyright of maps in Denmark. For example, the Royal Library of Denmark confirms that maps like [1] from Trap, 2nd ed. are out of copyright.
Cities
- Maps of market towns (købstæder) in Trap, 3rd edition
Railroads
See Railways and Railway_stations for details on mapping stations.
Infrastructure
Churches
- Danmarks Kirker. Nationalmuseets store bogværk om landets kirker: https://danmarkskirker.natmus.dk/
- QLever query for churches in Denmark from WikiData: https://qlever.dev/wikidata/0j1WXK
Farms, manor houses
- Danske Gaarde. J. C. B. la Cour, 1906-18: https://ronlev.dk/lokalhistoriske-boger/124-flere-amter/1691-danske-gaarde-af-j-c-b-la-cour.html
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Frandsen, Karl-Erik (1984). “Atlas over Danmarks Administrative Inddeling efter 1660”. Dansk Historisk Fællesforening. pp. 127-129 .
- ↑ Frandsen, Karl-Erik (1984). “Atlas over Danmarks Administrative Inddeling efter 1660”. Dansk Historisk Fællesforening. pp. 11-14 .
- ↑ “Sogn-Herred-Amt (Slægt&Data)”. DIS-Danmark. 2011. p. 4. ISBN 87-90044-02-9 .
- ↑ “Projekt Runeberg: Kongeriget Danmark” .