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Background. The first decades after 1800 were dominated by war, bad crops and epidemics and the few existing public physicians worked under difficult conditions. Material and methods. A review of medical reports from the period 1804 - 31 and county physician Christian Lintrup’s (1768 - 1844) correspondence with other public physicians in the county of Hedmark (Hedemarken at the time) and the county official (their administrative leader). Resultater. Lintrup was born in Denmark, took his medical university degree in 1798 in Copenhagen and was appointed county physician in Hedemarken in 1799. The doctors had a basic salary and their possibility for an income from private practice was uncertain, especially in the rural districts. Many sick calls required long and time-consuming journeys. Use of quacks was common, not only among the poor. Lintrup’s work was affected by the Age of Reason’s rationalism and belief in knowledge, which was apparent in his handling of psychotic patients. He took the initiative to employ public midwives and spent much time travelling in the county to inform people about health-related issues in general and vaccination against copper especially. Interpretation. Despite of few resources, Christian Lintrup and his colleagues succeeded in developing and consolidating a local health service. They formed the basis for later county physicians work and for development of a modern public health service in Norway.

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