Behind every Danish address — from Rådhuspladsen 1 in Copenhagen to a farm track in rural Jutland — is a single authoritative source: DAR, the Danish Central Address Register. Understanding what DAR is, and how APIs like DAWA and Danadresse relate to it, is the key to building reliable Danish address integrations.
DAR (Det Centrale Adresseregister — the Danish Central Address Register) is the official national register of all postal addresses and access addresses in Denmark. It is maintained by the Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency (Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur, SDFI) and updated continuously by Danish municipalities.
DAR contains approximately:
These three names are often confused. Here is the exact relationship:
DAR is the register — the authoritative database of addresses maintained by SDFI. It is not an API you call directly. It is the source of truth that feeds all other systems.
DAWA (Danmarks Adressers Web API) was the free, publicly accessible REST API that served DAR data from 2013 until its shutdown on 17 August 2026. DAWA made DAR data easily accessible to developers without bureaucracy: no authentication, no agreements, instant access. It is what made Danish address autocomplete ubiquitous in Danish web applications.
Datafordeler.dk is SDFI's new data distribution platform. It distributes DAR data (and many other government datasets) but with a very different interface: GraphQL and WFS instead of REST, OAuth2 with a business agreement instead of open access, and no typo-tolerant search or address cleansing built in. Datafordeleren is the official channel, but it is not a drop-in replacement for DAWA.
Danadresse (danadresse.dk) pulls address data from Datafordeleren, processes it through its own search engine and API layer, and serves it with DAWA's REST interface. The result is that DAR data is accessible with the same endpoints, parameters and JSON shapes as DAWA — so existing DAWA integrations can migrate by changing one URL.
Every address in DAR has a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) assigned when the address is created. This UUID persists as long as the address exists, even if the street name or house number changes. The UUID is the stable key for referencing a Danish address in any database.
DAWA and Danadresse return the same DAR UUIDs in their responses. This means:
/adresser/{id} and get the current data for that address.UUIDs use the UUIDv4 format (as DAR originally defined them). Danadresse preserves these identifiers exactly.
DAR distinguishes between two address levels:
The access address represents the physical entry point to a plot. It consists of a road name, house number and optionally a letter suffix. Example: Rådhuspladsen 1. Every building entrance is an access address. Access addresses have precise GPS coordinates (the road access point, not the building centroid).
API endpoint: /adgangsadresser
An address is a specific unit within a building — an apartment, office or other distinct deliverable location. It consists of the access address plus a floor and door identifier. Example: Rådhuspladsen 1, 3. tv. A single access address can have many addresses (each apartment in a building).
API endpoint: /adresser
For most use cases (webshop delivery, address autocomplete) you want /adresser — the full address including apartment number. For logistics and geocoding you often want /adgangsadresser — the road entry point.
Municipalities are responsible for creating and maintaining addresses in DAR. When a new building gets an address, the municipality registers it via their cadastral system, which flows through to DAR. Changes (new roads, renamed streets, new buildings, demolished buildings) appear in DAR within days.
DAR provides a replication stream (/replikering/haendelser) so systems that mirror the full dataset can stay in sync. Danadresse syncs from Datafordeleren continuously and exposes the same replication endpoint for Enterprise subscribers.
DAR contains addresses and their spatial coordinates. It does not contain:
Danadresse enriches the DAR address with these additional data sources via the /api/v1/enrich/adresser/{id}/all endpoint, combining DAR coordinates with BBR, valuation, energy label and zoning data in a single call.