Løten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, Heimdal, and Brenneriroa.

The municipality is the 246th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Løten Municipality is the 133rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,931. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 5.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information The parish of Løiten was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The spelling of the name was later changed to Løten. The boundaries of the municipality have never changed.

Historically, the municipality was part of the old Hedmark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Løten farm (). The actual farm is probably the one which is now called Prestgarden (meaning "the vicarage"), where the first Løten Church was built. The first element is which means "hollow depression". (There is a long depression between the Prestgarden and the old church.) The last element is which means "meadow" or "pasture". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Leuten or Leuthen. In 1838 the spelling was changed to Løiten. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Løten.

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 7 September 1984. The official blazon is "Gules, a drinking horn Or" (). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a drinking horn from the Middle Ages. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. It represents the historical importance of growing wheat and also the products of the modern Løiten Brænderi (Løten distillery), which was established in 1855. The arms were designed by Harald Trætteberg. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway has one parish () within Løten Municipality. It is part of the Hamar domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Churches in LøtenParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtLøtenLøten ChurchLøtenc. 1200Oppegård ChapelOppegård1886Oset ChapelOset1885

History There has been traffic from east to west through Løten, throughout all recorded periods of history and archeological evidence supports earlier trade along this route. The old village center was formed around the Løten Church, which was built during the 13th century.

When King Christian IV of Denmark prohibited the importation of German beer in the early 17th Century, distillation began in Norway. In 1624, distilled alcohol was prohibited at weddings, and by 1638 King Christian forbade the clergy the right to distill in their own homes. The corn-growing districts of Løten, Vang, and Romedal all became famous for their distilleries. "Gamle Løiten" from Løiten Brænderi, which was established in 1855, was a highly prized "akvavit" produced in Løten.

When the railway was opened in 1862, Løten Station became the new centre of trade and management. The area around the new station grew up as the present village of Løten.

Government Løten Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hedmarken og Østerdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council of Løten is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors The mayor () of Løten Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:

1838–1839: Axel Quinsgård 1840–1840: T.A. Gjestvang 1841–1844: Ole Rasmussen Grøholt 1847–1848: Johan Fredrik Wilhelm Larsen 1849–1856: Ole Rasmussen Grøholt 1857–1864: Hedvard Norderhaug 1865–1866: Per Sigstad 1867–1868: Jens Grøholt 1873–1874: Thore Sigstad, Jr. 1875–1875: Jens Grøholt 1881–1882: Håkon Qvæken 1883–1884: Mathias Rustad 1885–1886: Thv. Gjestvang 1887–1890: Mathias Rustad 1891–1891: Thv. Gjestvang 1892–1894: Johan D. Karterud 1895–1898: Ole Imset 1899–1901: Karl Wefring 1902–1907: Gudbrand Søberg 1908–1910: Edvard Holth 1911–1913: Johan Kleppen 1914–1916: J. Englaugsmoen 1917–1919: N. Thorshaug 1920–1925: M.A. Nordli 1926–1928: Kristen O. Ommang 1929–1931: M.A. Nordli 1932–1940: Oscar Wilhelm Nilssen 1941–1945: Einar Myki 1945–1955: Oscar W. Nilssen 1956–1959: M.A. Nordli 1960–1967: Ole L. Skaugerud 1968–1979: Leif Hjelsengsveen 1980–1997: Even Østlund (Ap) 1997–1999: Bente Elin Lilleøkseth (Ap) 1999–2007: Martin Skramstad (Sp) 2007–2019: Bente Elin Lilleøkseth (Ap) 2019–present: Marte Larsen Tønseth (Sp)

Geography + Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Løten by country of origin in 2017 AncestryNumber 95 84 42 35 30 26 24 20 Løten lies in the eastern part of the traditional district of Hedmarken. It is surrounded by Hamar Municipality to the west-northwest, Stange Municipality to the west-southwest, and Elverum Municipality to the east. Small portions of Løten Municipality border on Åmot Municipality in the far north and Våler Municipality in the south. The Hedmarksvidda moorland lies in the north.

Løten lies along the "border" between the agricultural wheat fields of the lower part of Eastern Norway (the areas around and south of lake Mjøsa), and the taiga (boreal coniferous forests) that stretch from eastern Norway all the way to Siberia. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Gitvola which is located on the Løten-Åmot municipal border.

The border area between the cultivated farm land and the wilderness was written about by the poet Rolf Jacobsen, from Hamar, in his classic poem (Thoughts at the Ånestad crossroad).

Notable people

Kristoffer Nilsen Svartbækken Grindalen (1804–1876), the last person in Norway to be sentenced to death for murder (he committed murder in Løten and was executed there) Edvard Munch (1863 in Ådalsbruk – 1944), an artist who was famous for painting The Scream Helmer Hermansen (1871 in Løten – 1958), a rifle shooter and team silver medallist at the 1900 Summer Olympics Marius Røhne (1883 in Løten – 1966), a landscape architect Hallvard Trætteberg (1898 in Løten – 1987), a leading Norwegian heraldic artist Emil Løvlien (1899 in Løten - 1973), a Norwegian politician and leader of the Communist Party of Norway (1946-1965) Einar Johannessen (1926–2016), a radio and TV personality who lived in Løten Magne Dæhli (born 1987 in Løten), an orienteer, ski-orienteer, and cross-country skier Monika Kørra (born 1989 in Løten), an author and former track and field athlete

Gallery

References

External links Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway