Bethe, also spelled Betha, is the name of an ancient minor German noble family originating from the region of Pomerelia in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. The first person known to hold the name was Caspar von Bethe, a knight of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

who led the Teutonic takeover of Danzig. After the conquest, he was granted lordship of Conitz for his service. In later centuries, his descendants in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Brandenburg-Prussia Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohe ...

went on to establish a noble lineage, later entitled as

Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "Freiherr" ( Baron). As with most titles ...

von Betha in the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and

Austrian nobility The Austrian nobility (german: österreichischer Adel) is a status group that was officially abolished in 1919 after the fall of Austria-Hungary. The nobles are still part of Austrian society today, but they no longer retain any specific privi ...

. It is also a given name which may refer to: * Albrecht Bethe (1872–1954), German physiologist and father of Hans Bethe * Erich Bethe (1863–1940), German philologist *

Hans Bethe Hans Albrecht Bethe (; July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005) was a German-American theoretical physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics, and solid-state physics, and who won the 1967 Nobel Prize ...

(1906–2005), German-American nuclear physicist * Kitty Cooper (born 1960), American bridge player also known as Kitty Bethe *

Mason Betha Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

(born 1975), American minister and rapper *

Bethe Correia Bethe Correia (; born June 22, 1983) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the women's bantamweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2012, Correia has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Earl ...

(born 1983), Brazilian mixed martial artist * Ernst Ludwig von Betha, Austrian nobleman and grandson of

Angelo Soliman Angelo Soliman, born Mmadi Make, (c. 1721 – 1796) was an Austrian Freemason. He achieved prominence in Viennese society and Freemasonry. Life Soliman probably belonged to the ''Magumi'' subset of the Kanuri ethnic group. His original name, M ...

See also