Rittergut Bettensen, Manor estate in Ronnenberg, Germany

Rittergut Bettensen is a manor estate in Ronnenberg with a main building dating to the 18th century, surrounded by a moat fed by the Ihme river. Two fish ponds also occupy the grounds around the property.

The estate was first recorded in 1439 and came under the ownership of the von Münchhausen family in 1765. That family has maintained and developed the property to the present day.

The name Bettensen derives from the former Sattelhof, a type of feudal estate; the Sommerhaus was built in 1733 for summer festivities and representation, and its ground floor holds a garden hall. The portrait collection of Welf princes and related European rulers from the 17th and 18th centuries, once diplomatic gifts, is largely on loan to the Residenzmuseum at Celle Castle.

The estate is a privately occupied working farm and can only be visited during events or on the Day of the Open Monument (Tag des offenen Denkmals). The buildings stand within a loop of the Ihme, surrounded by a Graft, with the ponds and the orchard avenue on the Bettenser Berg outside the courtyard.

A long avenue lined with fruit trees extends from the estate toward a former plantation area called Bettenser Garten, preserving the agricultural heritage of the place. This tree-lined route reveals how the property was once organized and worked.