[3] Born in Kismarton (now Eisenstadt, Austria), Kingdom of Hungary, Paul was the third son of Nicholas, Count Esterházy of Galántha and his second wife Baroness Krisztina Nyáry of Bedegh.

[2] Paul was raised in a deeply religious atmosphere and studied at Jesuit institutions in Graz and Nagyszombat (today Trnava, Slovakia).

[1][2][3] Paul succeeded Ladislaus as Count Esterházy of Galántha and inherited the family's vast wealth and landholdings at the age of 17.

[5] Paul served in the army with such distinction that he was appointed to the position of Field Marshal and Commander-in-chief of the Military Frontier of southern Kingdom of Hungary beginning in 1667 at the age of 30.

[5] Throughout his military career, Paul led the Hungarian side of the Habsburg army into battle against the Ottoman Turks a total of 16 times.

[7] In 1703, Paul again fought with the Habsburgs in the wars with the Kuruc, armed anti-Habsburg Hungarian rebels in Royal Hungary.

[1] Paul and Éva had the following children:[1] In 1671, he rescued some 3,000 Jews who had been expelled by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor from Vienna.

This led to their resettlement as tenant farmers and the founding of the Seven Municipalities (German: Siebengemeinden) on Esterházy lands throughout Western Hungary, present-day Burgenland.

[1][2][3] To secure his fortune, Paul founded the Austrian model of the fee tail and settled his successor in his will through the establishment of two primogeniture lines for his sons Michael and Joseph.

[2] Most of the Princely House of Esterházy's landholdings were acquired during Paul's reign as head of the family, but his lands incurred debts totaling 1,311,733 florins by 1711.