Rendal Municipality
Rendal is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1880 when it was divided into Ytre Rendal Municipality and Øvre Rendal Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Bergset where Øvre Rendal Church is located.
General information
The parish of Rendal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. This municipality was quite large, spanning from the Østerdalen valley to the border with Sweden. During the 1870s, discussions began on dividing the large municipality. On 1 January 1880, Rendal Municipality was split in two to create the new Øvre Rendal Municipality in the north and Ytre Rendal Municipality in the south.During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, a new Rendalen Municipality was established, but it did not have quite the same boundaries as the old Rendal municipality.
Name
The municipality is named after the Rendalen valley which is located in the municipality. The first element is which means "reindeer". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". The river Rena runs through the valley and it is not known if the valley was named after the river or if the river was named after the valley. A nearby mountain Renafjellet also has a similar name.Churches
The Church of Norway had two parishes within Rendal Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Rendal prestegjeld and the Nord-Østerdal prosti in the Diocese of Hamar.| Parish | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
| Ytre Rendal | Ytre Rendal Church | Otnes | 1751 |
| Øvre Rendal | Øvre Rendal Church | Bergset | 1759 |
Geography
Rendal Municipality was located in the upper Østerdalen valley. Tynset Municipality was to the northwest, Tolga Municipality was to the northeast, Särna Municipality in Sweden was to the east, Trysil Municipality was to the southeast, Aamot Municipality was to the south, and Storelvedalen Municipality was to the west. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Sølen.Government
During its existence, Rendal 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.Mayors
The mayor of Rendal Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:- 1838–1845: Ole Johan Storm
- 1845–1853: Jens Simensen Høye
- 1854–1857: Simen Jensen Høye
- 1858–1859: Jacob Eriksen Haarset
- 1860–1861: Ola Jonsen Høye
- 1862–1869: Simen Jensen Høye
- 1870–1871: Johan Jensen Høye
- 1872–1879: Ola Jonsen Høye