Rendal

Rendal is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The 4201 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1880 when it was divided into Ytre Rendal and Øvre Rendal. The administrative centre was the village of Bergset where Øvre Rendal Church is located.

History
The parish of Rendal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). This municipality was quite large, spanning 4201 km2 from the Østerdalen valley to the border with Sweden. During the 1870s, discussions began on dividing the large municipality. On 1 January 1880, the municipality of Rendal was split in two to create the municipalities of Øvre Rendal (population: 1,868) and Ytre Rendal (population: 1,661). Later, in 1965, a new Rendalen Municipality was established, but it did not have the same boundaries as the old Rendal municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Rendalen valley (Reindalr) 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.

Government
During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors
The mayors of Rendal:


 * 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