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Longevity in Denmark

Denmark has had regular nationwide census since 1769 and kept strict church records of birth, confirmation, marriage and death and so on, since the mid 17th century; the earliest begins in 1572 from Nakskov (now lost), though a uniform church parish recording system was not introduced before 1812. Parish books prior to this date varies widely in quality, readability and amount of information recorded.

Church Parish books only recorded people who came in contact with the Church of Denmark, in theory this means all Danes. In 1924 the municipal civil register (Folkeregisteret) was established, recording all Danes, regardless of religious denominations, living in each municipality.

Since 1969 with the introduction of Det Centrale Personregister, exact population statistic is available on demand, including longevity statistic, making census obsolete in Denmark. The last complete census, the Twenty-sixth census, was conducted September 27 1965. These statistics are available though Statistics Denmark, since the common man does not have access to information from the Centrale Personregister, other than his own record.

Between 1775 and 1992, 3851 people in Denmark, 2697 females and 1154 males have passed away, reaching the age of 100 or more.

According to Statistics Denmark (table BEF1A, BEF2A & BEF6) there remains, per January 1, 2006, one male and eight females, age 106-107, that is born in Denmark in the 19th century. The oldest living person in Denmark on that same day was a 109-year-old unnamed Afghanistan-born male from Århus. The oldest living native-born on that day, was a unnamed 107-year-old female from Haderslev.

Since January 1979, 186 people 1 in Denmark, 183 of them native-born, 160 females (159 natives) and 26 males (24 natives), have reached the age of 105. Of these only 3 males (1 native) and 15 females (14 natives) have reached the age of 108.

1 People that reach the age of 105 after a January 1 recording and dies before the next January 1 recording, is not included in the 186 people.

History and difficulties
In Denmark there is no public available record or list over the current top 10 oldest Danes. Despite that at any given moment any Dane can instantly retrieve a list of the number of people of all ages between 0 and 125 currently living in Denmark from Statistics Denmark, the identity of these same individuals remains disclosed. Applying a name to currently living centenarians therefore only occurs whenever a local or national media runs a story about these individuals. Often it is birthdays that is reported 105-106-107 etc.. while their actual death to a much lesser extent gets published and often only in local papers.

It can generally be said that for Danes, based on Statistics Denmark records, any man reaching the age of 106½ or above today, is within the top 20 of oldest confirmed men in Denmark. For females this number is closer to 109 or above.

Bolle Willum Luxdorph
The first Dane known to have studied old age was Bolle Willum Luxdorph (1716-1788). He was a high-ranking civil servant in the Danish-Norwegian monarchy, leader of the Danish Chancellery. Luxdorph followed various tracks in his studies of old age. He compiled two catalogues of longævi ("long livers"), people who had lived 80 years or more. The extraordinary thing about Luxdorph's catalogues is that he combines his listing of longævi with pictures of the persons in question. In 1780 he also made an investigation of the phenomenon of centenarians in the Danish-Norwegian monarchy of the late 18th century.

The Catalogus longævorum, from 1780, lists 33 centenarians from classical times until 17th century Denmark including a couple of Danish Kings, illustrated with many drawings. The second catalogue from 1783, Index tabularurum pictarum et cælatarum qvæ Longævos repræsentant is a catalogue of pictures of longævi, including 36 pictures representing people who claimed to have reached the age of hundred years or more. Altogether the 1783-catalogue lists close to 300 pictures of longævi.

In the following years Luxdorph continued to collect pictures of longævi, and when he died in 1788, he left a collection of 728 pictures, drawings and prints, of longævi, arranged according to their age, the oldest first and the youngest, those of 80 years, including a few persons still living, last. None of the centenarians, of whom there were now 42, were verified or confirmed. Some of them were well-known European longævi, e.g Cathrine of Desmonde (1464-1604). Most of these non-Danish-Norwegian longævi, perhaps all of them, have been refuted in literature.

Old claims
It is virtual impossible to make extreme longevity claims in modern Denmark, due to the level of public data available about every native born Dane. Once identity is established one can with relative ease trace that individual though numerous public available records. Immigrants can still present a problem with verification. Example in 1980, according to Statistics Denmark (tabel BEF1A) a 110-year-old Yugoslavian born female citizen died in Copenhagen.

Extreme longevity claims


Extreme longevity claims are particularly common in Denmark. One such is the claim of the Norwegian-born Christian Jacobsen Drackenberg (1626-1772), claimed to be 145 years old. There are numerous unverifiable facts in his story.

In Danish parish church books there are long lists of those that died, listed with their relevant information, such as name, birth date, descendants, status and such. In these books can be found numerous people 100-109 years old from the mid 17th century to the 19th century. These claims are not self-made but rather derive from entries made by parish priests, most often based on information provided by ancestors.

One extreme case to emerge out of such records is the 118-year-old Jørgen Kjeldsen from Hedegård, who died in 1761. It is found in Randers County, Djurs Sønder Hundred, Feldballe-Nødager parish book 1694-1809, page 184. It simple reads "Dom 24 p. tri. Jørgen Kjeldsen from Hedegård, 118 year old". Dominica 24 post Trinitatis is the 24 Sunday after Trinity Sunday. A lifespan of 118 years would make him not only Denmark’s oldest person but also the second-oldest male in the world and among the top five oldest in the world.

Another claim of 118 years of age is the case of Bartholomæus Albrecht, who died in Ubberud parish, Odense County, on February 17, 1841 (Ubberud 1829-1846 p.265). According to notes in the parish register and in census lists, he was born near Nürnberg in Germany in 1722 and served in the war between Prussia and Austria in 1756-63 (3rd Silesian War). There are different reports on when he came to Denmark; both 1757 and 1762 have been mentioned. He served as a soldier in several regiments until he finally received his pension and settled in Ubberud parish. Having been born in another country and also serving as a soldier makes it almost impossible to verify his age claim with a birth registration.

From the available information, it is very difficult to dismiss Bartholomæus Albrecht as a true centenarian. On the other hand, it is most unlikely that he really attained the remarkable age of 118 years. If the age stated in the census in 1801 were to be taken as valid, he still would have reached the very unlikely age of 114 years. More reasonable is the age stated in 1787, 50 years, which leads to an age estimate of 104 years at death. - For further details of his record see sources.

In the records of Luxdorph we find the 113-year-old Anton Crolekofsky, who was said to be that age when he died in Copenhagen in 1785. He supposedly was born in Poland. Luxdorph had a picture done of himself in 1780 by Georg Fuchs.

Earliest verifiable centenarians in Denmark-Norway
It is possible that Eilif Philipsen (July 21 1682 (christened) – June 20 1785) from Ugenæs at Kinsarvik, near Bergen, Norway, is the earliest verifiable centenarian in Danish and Norwegian history. Denmark and Norway was united into Denmark-Norway at that time.

He was christened together with his twin sister, Ingeborg, in Kinsarvik church on July 21, 1682. We know this because Kinsarvik was among the Norwegian parishes, which on a voluntary basis kept a church-register already in the 1670s. We come across him again in 1701, where he is mentioned in the first Norwegian census. He is here recorded as being 18 years old. At that time he lived with his father and two younger brothers, 10-year-old Jacob and 3-year-old Hans. Next time we see him is in 1721, where he is marrying the local 22-year-old Ingebjørk. We meet him again already two years later in 1723, when he was involved in a court case and in 1727, when he inherits his native farm. In 1753 Philipsen handed over the farm to his son-in-law, the husband of his adopted daughter.

Then there is a gap of thirty years, before we meet him again. This time because he is mentioned in the local vicar's letter to Luxdorph. He tells that there was a 101-year-old man in his parish. This was Eilif Philipsen, who still lived in retirement on his native farm together with his now 84-year-old wife. He lasted another two years. According to the church register in Kinsarvik, Philipsen died June 20 1785. It seems that the Eilif Philipsen, who died in Kinsarvik in 1785, was the very same Eilif Philipsen, who was christened at the same place almost 103 years earlier.

Examples of old men
Other examples of old men found in Danish parish books.

Examples of old women
Examples of old women, likewise found in Danish parish books.

Top oldest native-born Danish females
According to Statistics Denmark there are 14 native-born females age 108-111+ that has died between January 1979 and January 2006 in Denmark, plus several reaching that age frame and passing away between record dates.

Additional two 107 (Haderslev and Odense) year-old were still alive in January 2006. Should both have died by July 2006 (Statistics Denmark data still pending), the oldest female alive today in Denmark has a maximum age of 107 (six age 106 alive January 2006).

This list is compiled using this record by Statistics Denmark and the various reports of old people dieing as reported in Danish media. Unknown name thus occurs when no matching media report could be located, despite that Statistics Denmark says that such an individual exists.

Top oldest native-born Danish males
According to Statistics Denmark there are 22 native-born males age 105-108+ that has died between January 1979 and January 2006 in Denmark.

Additional one 105 (Give), one 106 (Copenhagen), one 107 (Skanderborg born in Bosnien-Hercegovina) and one 109 (Århus born in Afghanistan) year-old were still alive in January 2006. Should they all have died by July 2006 (Statistics Denmark data still pending), the oldest male alive today in Denmark has a maximum age of 105 (one age 104 alive January 2006).


 * In April 2006 Torkil Dressø (b. March 29 1899) from Copenhagen was still alive, and is thus not only the last living native-born Danish male from the 19th century, he is also currently the oldest native-born living male.


 * Unnamed Afghanistan-born 109-yeal-old male, living in Århus, was still alive in February 2006, and is thus the oldest person living in Denmark currently.


 * Marthinus Larsen from Give died at age 106 in March 2006. He is born in 1900, thus he is not the second-to-last native-born Danish male from the 19th century. The second-to-last native-born Danish male from the 19th century was an unnamed male from Arden municipality who died between January 2005 and July 2005, at age 107+.


 * Currently no information about 107 year-old Bosnien-Hercegovina-born, living in Skanderborg.

This list is compiled using this record by Statistics Denmark and the various reports of old people dieing as reported in Danish media. Unknown name thus occurs when no matching media report could be located, despite that Statistics Denmark says that such an individual exists.


 * 1According to the memories of Christen Christensen Bathums 1, Denmark’s oldest man at that time.