Hospital Records as a Source on Morbidity and Mortality in the Past. Copenhagen's Epidemic Hospital and its Patient Journals, 1879 to 1910

Individual-level patient hospital records add a new dimension to conventional historical analysis of disease patterns based on mortality records. In this paper we examine patient journals from the Blegdam Hospital in Copenhagen and discuss how they contribute to our understanding of morbidity and mortality at the turn of the 20th century. These records are fully preserved since the hospital's opening in 1879 and include information on the dates of admission and discharge, name, sex and age of the patient, diagnoses, and a journal of medical procedures and patient follow-up during their hospital stay until discharge or death. Such records provide an additional angle to studying causes of death, where the period leading up to death including symptoms and treatment can be explored. The records are kept at the Copenhagen City Archives, have now been digitized from 1879 through 1910, and are currently being transcribed as part of the PID-scapes (2025–2028) and Paper Trails projects (2026–2027). The collection has, to our knowledge, not been the subject of academic research since it was deposited in the archive. In this paper we demonstrate their potential, explore the sources in detail, inventory their content and quality, and describe their historical context.