Løten

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.[6]

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.[11]

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.

All municipalities in Norway are 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.[12] The municipality falls under the Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Løten by country of origin in 2017[33]

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 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).

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), a Norwegian painter of The Scream
• Helmer Hermansen (1871 in Løten – 1958), a rifle shooter, team silver medallist at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• Marius Røhne (1883 in Løten – 1966), a Norwegian landscape architect
• Hallvard Trætteberg (1898 in Løten – 1987), a leading Norwegian heraldic artist
• Emil Løvlien (1899 in Løten - 1973), a Norwegian politician, leader of the Communist Party of Norway (1946-1965)
• Einar Johannessen (1926–2016), a Norwegian radio and TV personality, lived in Løten
• Magne Dæhli (born 1987 in Løten), a Norwegian orienteer, ski-orienteer and cross-country skier
• Monika Kørra (born 1989 in Løten), a Norwegian author and former track and field athlete

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  Finstadhaugen i Løten
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  Korpreiret canyon in river Øksna, Løten
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  Løten prestegard

• Media related to Løten at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of Løten at Wiktionary
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)