Bygdebøker available online
Here are some bygdebøker available online.
This list has shrunk a lot since I first published it. It might be that various institutions and municipalities has become more aware of copyright issues. As many of the books contains information about living persons there may also be privacy concerns involved. If you come across bygdebøker that is available online and not on this list, I am grateful to get a word from you.
Martin
If you are not familiar with the term “bygdebok/bygdebøker”, you might want to take a look at my article “What is a bygdebok?” In this article, you should note my word of caution about using “bygdebøker”.
Some of you might know that there are a lot of bygdebøker available in the Norwegian National library’s online collection. The books in this collection are normally only accessible from Norwegian IP addresses. According to the documentation at the site, this is due to copyrights issues. Some books that are older than 70 years have fallen into the public domain and should be available to everyone. Lately several from outside Norway have been able to access some of the books. You might go to the site and try to search for the book you need. You might be lucky. I am not able the check this out as I am in Norway and thus have access to the whole collection.
I have tried to collect links to bygdebøker that are available online, to everyone, outside the National Library’s collection. I don’t claim that this list is complete and I am very happy if you have links to books that are not listed here.
The “bygdebøker” linked below are presented in different formats. Some are downloadable pdf files. Others are presented in a menu driven environment. You may have to use your browser’s translate function. If you have problems using these resources, don’t hesitate to comment and I will try to answer your problems.
Bygdebøker available online
Akershus county
Buskerud county
Searchpage for Rollag bygdebok
(gives you volume and page)
Hedmark county
- Brøttum bygdebok
- Veldre bygdebok
- Furnes bygdebok
- Nes bygdebok
- Vangsboka
- Stange bygdebok
- Romedalsboka
- Løtenboka
Hordaland county
Møre og Romsdal county
Several books at
Romsdal sogelag (hist. soc.) website.
Nordland county
Nord Trøndelag county
Sør Trøndelag county
Please report broken links!
What a great post about the Bygdebok websites, Martin. This is a huge resource that many Norwegian researchers are unaware of. PS: I use Evernote. Very handy.
Thanks Kay.Bygdebøker can yield a lot of valuable information. They are, however, secondary sources and the information should be checked with primary sources.
Thank you, I have some ancestors from Hole Buskerud! I appreciate this. Unfortunately, most of my Norwegian ancestors came from Sandsvær parish in Buskerud. Will you eventually have these available too? Would you know where I might purchase the books from. I was able to buy some of the Bygdebok’s from this parish, but not all and I would like to purchase the entire set. Again, thank you!!!
Hello Juliann. Thanks for your visit. I have only provided links to bygdebøker available online and I have no say in making the books available. In the article about bygdebøker that is linked in this article, you find some information about how to find/buy bygdebøker. When it comes to Sandsværboka you might try the emailaddress posted on this page http://www.langs-laagen.no/. If i am not totally mistaken, Sandsvær is now part of the municipality of Kongsberg. Contacting their library could also be a way to go. http://kongsbergbibliotek.no/
Great information!!! I clicked on the link for Nannestad and nothing happened, it is just blank. Just wanted you to know! Thanks for the wonderful article! Your blog is so helpful to me!!! I love how I can go back and find older blogs that give me information on better ways to search!!!
Hello Amy. Thanks for pointing this out for me. I will monitor this link and see if it is an temporary glitch. If it is not I will remove the link.
Alas, I got a “host is inactive” message when clicking on the Hole link. If you think it’s related to my non-Norwegian IP address, there’s ways around that.
Hello Eric
Thanks for visiting my blog and for taking the time to comment. I have now updated the link. Hopefully it will work.
I ended up finding them by Googling “Hole bygdebøker” 🙂
Wow! Great blog and great article – it truly helps us who are working on Norwegian genealogy!
Just a heads up – the link for Buskerud county –> Searchpage for Rollag bygdebok is broken.
Again- thank you for all your hard work!
-Kristin
Hello Kristin
Thanks for visiting, for kind words and for the notification about the broken link.I will look into it and hopefully be able to restore it.
Hello Martin,
Just found your site, mange tusen takk. I use the online Bygdebøk for Kviteseid,Telemark every now and then. I have the 2 volume set of Bygdebøker for Seljord, Flatdal and Åmotsdal in Telemark, printed in 2003 and the 5 volume set of Bygdebøker for Eidskog in Hedmark, printed in 1982. If anyone needs a look-up I would be most happy to do so.
Best regards
Sharon
Hello Sharon
Thanks for visiting and for kind words. Bygdebøker can be a great help in genealogy research. It is important to remember though, that they are secondary sources and all the information should be checked with primary sources such as e.g. church records. I use bygdebøker too and I do from time to time find errors.
Hi Martin. You have a great site.
I have created a special page with a list of available bygdebøker from the The National Library of Norway for you who doesn’t have an Norwegian IP.
You can find my list here: https://www.jegersberg.com/bygdeboker-digitaliserte-nettutgave/norwegian-farm-books.html
I hope this can help some of you.
Kind regards Cathrin