# Brandval

Brandval is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The 587-square-kilometre (227 sq mi) municipality existed from 1867 until its dissolution in 1964 when it became part of Kongsvinger Municipality. It was located in the southern part of the traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre of the old municipality was the village of Brandval where Brandval Church is located. The municipality included the populated Glomma river valley in the west and the more sparsely populated Finnskogen forest area in the east.

## History

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 (population: 3,946) was separated from Grue to become the new Brandval municipality. This left Grue with 6,464 residents. In 1941 a small part of Grue municipality (population: 68) 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, the municipality of Brandval (population: 4,384) was merged with the town of Kongsvinger (population: 2,349) and the municipality of Vinger (population: 6,257) to form the new Kongsvinger Municipality which had a total population of 12,990 residents.

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Brandval farm (Old Norse: Brandváll) since the first Brandval Church was built there. The first element is brandr 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.

## 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.

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Brandval was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Brandval herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 14 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 3 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 1 |
| | Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 21 |
Brandval herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 14 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 3 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 2 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 21 |
Brandval herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 11 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 3 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Brandval herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 4 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 1 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Brandval herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 5 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 1 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 1 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
Brandval herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 11 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 2 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 2 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 16 |
| Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945. |||

### Mayors

The mayors of Brandval:
* 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