Dodo von Knyphausen was a German nobleman

German nobility

The German nobility was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class from ca. 500 B.C. to the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.-Principles of German nobility:...

 from the Duchy of Prussia in the service of Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia 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 Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...

 during the reigns of Electors Frederick William

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg

|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...

 and Frederick III

Frederick I of Prussia

Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...

.

A government office to collect revenues in Brandenburg

Margraviate of Brandenburg

The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....

 had been created in the 1650s, but it was not until Knyphausen's leadership in 1683 that this central revenues office achieved direct control over revenues from the various lands of the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns

House of Hohenzollern

The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...

. In 1689 Knyphausen organized the creation of the efficient Geheime Hofkammer, or collegiate central control office, for Brandenburg-Prussia.

After Brandenburg-Prussia received little from the 1697 Peace of Ryswick, Knyphausen and Eberhard von Danckelmann

Eberhard von Danckelmann

Eberhard von Danckelmann was a German official who served as Prime Minister of Brandenburg-Prussia from 1692-97....

were sacked as scapegoats.