Rittergut Wichtringhausen, Manor estate in Barsinghausen, Germany

Rittergut Wichtringhausen is a two-storey manor house on a moated island reached by three bridges. Its lower storey and cellar are built of rubble stone, while the upper storey is plastered timber framing. The house has a Renaissance bay window dated 1611 on the east side, and a neo-Gothic stair tower, balcony, bay and turret from the 1866 remodelling. Outbuildings include an 1865 steward's house and a solid cow barn from 1905.

Wichtringhausen first appears in 1188 as Wicmeringehusen in a feudal register of the Bishop of Minden, who granted it to his vassals. In the 15th century the estate passed to the Counts of Schaumburg, who built a small castle; in the 16th century this was converted into a moated palace with a crypt, chapel and gatehouse. The manor house itself dates from the 16th century, was altered in the 17th century and remodelled in neo-Gothic style in 1866 under Heinrich Langwerth von Simmern.

The manor house displays a mix of Renaissance and neo-Gothic details that reflect different eras of taste and design. These layers show how the estate evolved to match changing ideas about how a grand residence should look.

The estate lies north of the B 65, on the medieval Hellweg route between Hildesheim and Westphalia. The manor house stands on a moated island reached by three bridges. In the former steward's house, built in 1865, a wine tavern of the Freiherrlich Langwerth von Simmern'sches Rentamt in Eltville now serves guests.

The wine tavern in the former estate manager's house, built in 1865, is a branch of the Freiherrlich Langwerth von Simmern'sches Rentamt, a winery based in Eltville in the Rheingau. The same family that has owned the estate since 1743 thus sells Rheingau wine on its Lower Saxon property.