He graduated first in Cēsis, Birkenruh Gymnasium, later studied in St. Petersburg and entered the senior civil service.

Count Emanuel von Sievers successfully completed his father's rebuilding of the New Castle, including the building of the library in the newly built Lademaher tower.

In Cēsis, Count Emanuel von Sievers was known as a city councilor, an outstanding art connoisseur and supporter whose merit also includes some of his own sketches of Cēsis Castle Manor, which have been preserved in the form of lithographs to the present day.

In 1858 he donated to the Cēsis Jānis Church an altar painting by the Estonian painter Johann Köler, who later became known throughout Europe.

He also funded the studies of Köler, who is considered the founder of Estonian national painting at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.