In this article we present the development of a new diagnostic capable of determining the electron density in the divertor volume of ASDEX Upgrade (AUG). It is based on the spectroscopic measurement of the Stark broadening of the Balmer lines. In this work two approaches of calculating the Stark broadening, i.e. the unified theory and the model microfield method, are compared. It will be shown that both approaches yield similar results in the case of Balmer lines with high upper principal quantum numbers n. In addition, for typical AUG parameters the influence of the Zeeman splitting on the high n Balmer lines is found to be negligible. Moreover, an assumption for the Doppler broadening of Tn = 5 eV, which is the maximum Frank–Condon dissociation energy of recycled neutrals, is sufficient. The initial electron density measurements performed using this method are found to be consistent with both Langmuir probe and pressure gauge data.