Løten Municipality

Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, Heimdal, and Brenneriroa. The 369 km2 municipality is the 246th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. The 133rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,931. The municipality's population density is 21.5 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 5.1% over the previous 10-year period.

• Name — Løten • Former Name — Løiten herred • Id Number — 3412 • County — Innlandet • District — Hedmarken • Capital — Løten • Established — 1 Jan 1838 • Preceded — none • Population Demonym — Løtensokning • Language — Bokmål • Website — www.loten.kommune.no • Mayor — Marte Larsen Tønseth • Mayor Party — Sp • Mayor As Of — 2019 • Elevation Max M — 851.96 • Area Rank — 246 • Area Total Km2 — 369.44 • Area Land Km2 — 362.29 • Area Water Km2 — 7.15 • Area Water Percent — 1.9 • Population As Of — 2025 • Population Rank — 133 • Population Total — 7931 • Population Density Km2 — 21.5 • Population Increase — 5.1

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).

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Løten farm (Lautvin). 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 laut 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.

The coat of arms was granted on 7 September 1984. The official blazon is "Gules, a drinking horn Or" (I rødt et gull drikkehorn). 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.

The Church of Norway has one parish (no) within Løten Municipality. It is part of the Hamar domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. Churches in Løten • Parish (no) — Church name — Location of the church — Year built • Løten — Løten Church — Løten — c. 1200 • Oppegård Chapel — Oppegård — 1886 • Oset Chapel — Oset — 1885

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.

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.

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.

The mayor (ordfører) 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)

style="float: right; margin:1em;" Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Løten by country of origin in 2017 • Ancestry — Number • Lithuania — 95 • Poland — 84 • Thailand — 42 • Latvia — 35 • Myanmar — 30 • Syria — 26 • Sweden — 24 • Eritrea — 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 851.96 m 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 Tanker ved Ånestadkrysset (Thoughts at the Ånestad crossroad).

• Illustration — Edvard Munch • 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

• Illustration — Finstadhaugen i Løten • Illustration — Korpreiret canyon in river Øksna, Løten • Illustration — Løten prestegard