He served as the Bavarian Minister of the Interior from 1832 to 1837 and during the revolutions of 1848, he was caretaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture.

After his maternal grandfather's death in 1802, his mother took over the guardianship and ran the official affairs of the principality in Nördlinger Ries.

[3] Between 1807 and 1810, he studied law at the University of Landshut where he befriended Eduard von Schenk, later the Bavarian Minister of the Interior.

When he reached maturity, he took over the lifetime post of Crown Court Master of Bavaria in 1810 and received a seat in the Council of State.

The commitment to a well-stocked royal civil list and criticism of the alleged rule of officials met with approval.

Only two years later, Maximilian I died and Crown Prince Ludwig I ascended the throne, Oettingen-Wallerstein received all of his offices back.

Oettingen-Wallerstein showed his gratitude to Ludwig I for returning the seat in the First Chamber in 1828 by opposing his peers and vehemently defending his regent's reform plans.

A passionate art collector, he spent almost all of his money on artworks and in 1862 had to move to Switzerland to escape being arrested on the request of his creditors.