The Oberhofmeister acted as the direct head of the imperial court and household and was as such very influential.
As can be seen in the annual Hof- und Staats Handbuch,[1] the monarch's Obersthofmeister ranked directly behind the royal family and above all other high nobility.
Court theater (Hofburgtheater and Hofoper in Vienna), and especially the politically relevant planning of the ceremonial (e.g. speech and table arrangements, order of priority of the carriages) for formal appearances by the monarch and the preparation of invitations to the audience of the ruler.
When the unified Austrian Empire was reorganized into the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867, a second Oberhofmeister was installed at the royal court in Budapest.
An example of a very influential Oberhofmeister is Alfred, 2nd Prince of Montenuovo (1908–1917), who had a strong influence over his cousin, the aging Franz Joseph I.