Brandval Municipality


Brandval is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1867 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Kongsvinger Municipality in the traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre was the village of Brandval where Brandval Church is located. Other villages in the municipality included Lundersæter and Roverud.
Prior to its dissolution in 1963, the municipality was the 190th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Brandval Municipality was the 197th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 4,445. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 5.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Historically, Brandval was part of the large parish of Grue. On 1 January 1838, when municipalities were established in Norway, Brandval was part of Grue Municipality, making up the southern part of the municipality. On 1 January 1867, the Brandval area was separated from Grue to become the new Brandval Municipality. This left Grue Municipality with 6,464 residents. In 1941 a small part of Grue Municipality was transferred to Brandval Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a large municipal merger took place which merged the following areas to form a new, larger Kongsvinger Municipality which had a total population of 12,990 residents.
The municipality is named after the old Brandval farm since the first Brandval Church was built there. The first element is which means "fire" or "burning". The last element is váll which means "land that is cleared by burning". Thus the name likely refers to a forested area that was cleared by burning.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish within Brandval Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Brandval prestegjeld and the Solør prosti in the Diocese of Hamar.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
BrandvalBrandval ChurchBrandval1651
BrandvalLundersæter ChapelLundersæter1868

Geography

The municipality included the populated Glomma river valley in the west and the more sparsely populated Finnskogen forest area in the east. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Rafjellet, just south of the border with Grue Municipality. Grue Municipality was located to the north, Sør-Odal Municipality was located to the west, and Vinger Municipality was located to the south. To the east of Brandval Municipality was Fryksände Municipality in Sweden.

Government

While it existed, Brandval Municipality was responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Brandval Municipality was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor of Brandval Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
  • 1868–1870: Lars Bredesen Breen
  • 1871–1886: Per Hansen Gjølstad
  • 1887–1889: Kolbjørn Olsen
  • 1890–1897: Per Hansen Gjølstad
  • 1898–1901: Martin Hansen
  • 1902–1910: Arne Næss
  • 1911–1913: Rangvald Jahr
  • 1914–1919: Nils Aas
  • 1920–1931: Ole Ruud
  • 1932–1934: Kasper Dalermoen
  • 1935–1936: Arnt Nylund
  • 1937–1937: Thor Hals
  • 1938–1940: Gustav Storhæsen
  • 1941–1945: Ole Sandbæk
  • 1945–1947: Anton Braaten
  • 1948–1963: John Ruud