The annual Swedish genealogy conference was held on the 24th and 25th of August 2024 in Malmo. This conference is bigger than what we are used to in Norway. And some of us have ancestors from Sweden and would like to learn more about them and how to do genealogy research in Sweden. So we went.

Why will we find Swedes in Norway and Norwegians in Sweden?

Sweden and Norway have a long common border, so of course there has been a lot of migration both ways. Throughout history, some areas have changed from being under Norwegian or Swedish jurisdiction (Jämtland and Bohuslän for example). Forest Finns, a group of people who originally came from Finland, emigrated during the late 16th and early-to-mid-17th centuries, from Sweden to Norway. There have been wars between the two countries, The Great Northern War and before Norway’s constitution of 1814. Emigration to North America has sometimes been from Norway via Gothenburg and likewise from Sweden via Trondheim. At the end of the 19^th century many Swedes close to the border of Østfold, Norway, came to Norway to work, they could not afford a ticket for a transatlantic voyage and walked instead to Norway. And lastly, many Norwegians fled to Sweden during WW2. All these events can be important to know in order to understand the twists and turns of your family history.

The conference is a two-day event with many lectures, many exhibitors and plenty of participants. The slogan for this year’s event was: “The road itself is the goal of the journey”. The organiser wanted to highlight how much fun the research itself is, how much one learns along the way and how many exciting discoveries you can make. The event took place in Baltiska hallen, a sports arena. It had more space than we have seen at the conferences the last few years, but it was not easy for everyone to access the lecture halls or exhibition areas. The stairs had high steps and could be tricky for some (there were lifts).

There were over 40  different exhibitors, all relevant for Swedish genealogical research. But some things were missing, Norway should have had a stand in one capacity or another, either genealogy societies or the Norwegian Archives. Here is a list of those who were present. First and foremost; ArkivDigital (which claims to be Sweden’s most complete genealogy service), genealogy societies, both national and regional/local societies, archives and libraries, emigration societies, societies from other countries (Germany, the Baltic countries and the international ones like Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA), Centrala Soldatregistret  (an online register of soldiers) and more.

One could choose from 16 lectures each day, with a good mix of subjects. One area of interest is the genealogy of specific countries (this year for example Finland and Estland), lectures that we seldom have the chance of hearing. DNA is of course a topic of interest and so are different aspects of emigration. And military topics are more prevalent than what a Norwegian genealogist experiences. Though we speak another language, we mostly understand Swedish.

There are many examples of what we learned during these days. We met people with specialities that we seldom encounter back home and could ask questions we have had for a long time. A German genealogist helped answer some of our queries. Another genealogist had a question about her 3 x great grandfather; Andreas Stam, what more could be said about him? She knew he was a soldier and that he died in 1830 but she lacked the rich story. She therefore went to ask those who represented The Central Soldier Register (CS). They looked in their database, which is open to everybody, but not with all the information. They could tell her about his service as a soldier, his height and weight and that he drowned in 1830. This happened when he and many more soldiers extinguished a large fire. And when going back to camp by a ferry, too many people were aboard and the ship capsized, and 45 soldiers and a drummer drowned. This happened at Lilla Edet, North of Gothenburg. So when we drove home, we could see this locality west of the highway. This is a place our genealogist friend is definitely going back to.

Every year there is a group of Norwegian genealogists that attends these genealogy conferences. Some are professional, work in the archives or are members of the boards of  genealogy societies. We try to meet for dinner, exchange news, learn from each other and continue to help each other after the conference.