Exten Manor

The origins of Rittergut Exten stretch far back. A manor farm existed on this site over 800 years ago, although specific details from this early period are scarce. The current building, called “Edelhof” by locals, was constructed in 1727. Originally, the Edelhof was a Sattelhof, which played a central role in the Middle Ages as the administrative seat of the “officium Eckersten” of the Minden Cathedral Chapter and served as the residence for the Lords of Eckersten until the 16th century. The von Eckersten family, named after the locality of Exten, built a fortified noble court near the present-day buildings in 1236. A member of this family was Otto I von Eckersten, a robber knight, who was in conflict with the Möllenbeck monastery in the 15th century and was excommunicated in 1422. After the male line of the Eckersten died out around 1543/1544, the property passed to Jost von Wartensleben, whose mother was a born von Eckersten. The von Wartensleben family shaped the estate. A descendant was Alexander Hermann Graf von Wartensleben (1650–1734), who served as a Prussian Field Marshal General and Governor of Berlin, significantly co-shaping Prussian politics.

Rittergut Exten is located in Rinteln-Exten, in the district of Schaumburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at an elevation of approximately 57 meters above sea level.

Today, Rittergut Exten is privately owned and therefore not accessible to the public. Visitors can only view the property from the outside.