Løten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, Heimdal, and Brenneriroa. The 369 km2 municipality is the 246th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Løten is the 133rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,836. The municipality's population density is 21.6 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 4.8% 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 name was later changed to Løten. The boundaries of the municipality have never changed.

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 (sokn) within the municipality of Løten. It is part of the Hamar domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

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 (the former municipality in Hedmark), 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 Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) 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 mayors of Løten:

Geography

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 the municipality border on Åmot in the far north and Våler 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. This border area between the cultivated farm land and the wilderness was written about by the poet Rolf Jacobsen, from Hamar, in his classic poem Tanker ved Ånestadkrysset (Thoughts at the Ånestad crossroad).

Notable people

Gallery