Welcome to Swedish Roots!

■ Sveriges Släktforskarförbund The Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies is the umbrella organisation for some 160 genealogical societies in most parts of the country. The e-zine Rötter has a lot of useful information, mostly in Swedish, but also the very interesting discussion board Anbytarforum, where you can post queries in English under Discussions in English or under the appropriate "landskap" (if you know it). Most of the participants understand English. We welcome suggestions and corrections, and they can be emailed to The Federation.

To be launched on August 28-29, 2010 - The Swedish Death Index 1901-2009

The Swedish Death index on DVD will be launched at the Genealogy Days in Örebro on August 28-29. This 5th edition is supplemented with 2.5 million deaths for the period 1901 to 1946, all registered by volunteer workers in the project "naming the dead". This means that approximately 70% of all deaths for those years are included. From 1947 and onwards, additional 272 000 deaths have been registered since the last edition of the Swedish Death Index. Overall, this DVD contains 7 880 000 lines of which there may be occasional records from 1895 to 1901.

The DVD will be available for purchase in the on-line bookshop on the 30th of August. http://genealogi.netrix.se/shop/

On the DVD, there is the possibility of choosing English for basic information about the deceased.

System Requirements: Windows 98 or later and 980 MB free hard disk space.

Order in our webshop - link

The Swedish Death Index 1947-2006

■ The Swedish Death Index 1947-2006 is a complete list of all people - almost 5.1 million, who died in Sweden within that period. For each person the following information is given:

Name and address
Place of birth (in 96 % of all entries)
Place of death
Personal ID number (which also contains date of birth)
Date of death
Marital status, including date of last change
Maiden names for most women deceased before 1970

You can search on all parameters mentioned above and also by age and sex. The index is very popular among Swedish genealogists as well as scientists. It is also used by Swedish authorities, tax- and parish offices. It provides a unique way of finding anyone deceased during the last 60 years, with sufficient information to trace him or her further back.

Order in our webshop - link

Dig deeper for graves on the Internet

■ This spring, the Stockholm Cemetery Administration opened the search service www.hittagraven.stockholm.se The service has now been updated, and many of the requests received since its inauguration have been incorporated.

The Cemetery Administration, backed by funding from the Stockholm City Competence Development Fund, have also photographed and added parts of the older burial record registers that were only previously available in book form. It is the burial records from Norra begravningsplatsen, Sandsborgskyrkogården and Skogskyrkogården that have been photographed. This makes it possible to search for buried persons by name in the alphabetical databases, or interment date in the chronological databases from as early as 1895.

The search service is now available in English to satisfy international interests. The cemeteries available on www.hittagraven.stockholm.se are: Norra begravningsplatsen, Sandsborgskyrkogården, Skogskyrkogården, Råcksta begravningsplats, Bromma kyrkogård, Hässelby begravningsplats, Spånga kyrkogård, Galärvarvskyrkogården, Brännkyrka kyrkogård, Västberga begravningsplats and Strandkyrkogården.

Soldiers! ■ Now the search for your soldier has become much easier! The Central Soldiers Register has been published on the internet. Read more here!

Cite Your Sources - Some Thoughts! ■ One problem while doing research is the note-taking. How do you cite your sources so you can find those pages in the husförhörslängd again? Here are some suggestions.

The Swedish Population in 1980 ■ A CD that contains lots of information about the Swedes in 1980. Take a look here!

Midsummer ■ Midsummer (Swedish= Midsommar). Read more here about how some traditions survive in the modern world.

New Index ■ All genealogists love indexes. See the new wonderful one, done by the Swenson Center. More info is found here.

Emigrant Tickets ■ What did they look like? What did they cost? More info is found here.

Some facts on infant mortality ■ Life was hard in the old days, especially if you were a baby. Here you can find some information on how common it was that babies did not survive.

Get to know the 1890s Swedes! ■  A new CD has been introduced with a database with information on everyone that lived in Sweden in 1890. That was almost 4.5 million people! The database is searchable in many ways, read more about it here.

A Nordic Calendar  ■  Egon Bosved has constructed a useful Calendar for genealogists. Now it is also possible for English speakers to use this, as the helpfile has been translated. Just follow this link.

Emigrant Forum  ■  The Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies (Sveriges Släktforskarförbund) has launched a new database, Emigrantforum. This is an interactive database, where everyone is invited to add his/her own emigrants to the collection. The database started empty on the 12th of August, and now some 370 emigrants have been entered, and new ones are added every day.

The goal of the database is to gather information on people moving in and moving out from Sweden during the centuries, and that also includes people from Germany, Finland, Scotland, and all over the world, as well as Swedes moving to the U.S., Canada, Philippines, China, Australia, and the Tonga Islands.

So far the help text for the database is only in Swedish, but an English version is expected to be added later this year. The address is Rötter and then click on “Emigrantforum” in the lefthand column.

Poverty laws ■  It was not easy to be a poor person in the old days, even though the authorities tried to make the poor relief the same all over the country. Read here of the laws and ordinances that governed the life of the poor.

Travel in 1850 ■  A dräng from Östergötland sends a letter home to his parents.

More CDs! ■  The first new CD is an Index to all the Scandinavian heads of households in the 1910 U.S. Census, and the other one is a repeat course in basic Swedish genealogy. Read more about them here!

The Photo Gallery! ■  In October 2003 a new section was started on RÖTTER, and this is called Porträttfynd in Swedish. This is a database where anyone can enter their carte-de-visite (size 6 cm x 10,5 cm and on hard carboard) pictures from the late 1800s or early 1900s. The submitter also tells who the person is (if known) when and where the picture was taken. The datadase is searchable on names or places.
Visit The Photo Gallery!.

More On-line Resources! ■  A branch of the Swedish National Archives now offers on-line access to the Swedish Census for 1890, and parts of 1900. Read here about what Arkion offers the genealogists.

The Farmer's Almanac ■  was a help in an uncertain world. Read about it here!

A Swedish US President? ■  Read about an old myth about John Hanson, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Church Records Are Coming On-line ■  Read here about the possibility to look at original Swedish church records in your home.

The Lindblom Letters ■  Letters from one of the pioneers back to his sons in Sweden tells a sad story. The letters give a glimpse of how hard life could be.

Cradled in Sweden is back! ■  Cradled in Sweden by Carl-Erik Johansson has been out of print for a long time, but now it is available again. This is the #1 book in English about research in Sweden, and a must for all serious researchers. The suggested retail price is $31.95. Check out Everton Publishers.

The Tombstone Index can help! ■  A new database, Gravstens-Sök has information about 35.000 tombstones all around Sweden. Just enter the surname of the person you want in the search window and you will find out if there is a tombstone in that name, and where it is. It is important to enter the name like Lundberg, not lundberg or LUNDBERG. Click here!