Otto Theodor von Manteuffel (3 February 1805 - 26 November 1882), was a conservative Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n statesman. Manteuffel was born in Lübben (Spreewald)

Lübben (Spreewald)

Lübben is a town of 14,800 people, capital of the Dahme-Spreewald district in the Lower Lusatia region of Brandenburg, Germany.-Administrative structure:Districts of the town are:...

, into an aristocratic family.

From 1819 he attended the Landesschule Pforta and in 1824-1827 studied jurisprudence

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...

 and cameralism at the University of Halle

University of Halle-Wittenberg

The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany...

, where he also joined the Corps Saxonia Halle, a duelling Studentenverbindung

Studentenverbindung

A Studentenverbindung is a student corporation in a German-speaking country somewhat comparable to fraternities in the US or Canada, but mostly older and going back to other kinds of...

 in the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband

Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband

The Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband is the oldest association of German and Austrian Studentenverbindungen. It comprises roughly 105 German, Austrian and a Swiss Corps, all of which are based upon the principle of tolerance....

 (KSCV). In 1830 started a law clerkship. In 1833 he became Landrat (local administrator) of the district of Luckau

Luckau

Luckau is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia".-Origin of the name:...

, in 1841 he was made an Oberregierungsrat (a senior administrative position) in Königsberg

Königsberg

Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...

 and in 1843 was made Vice-President of the government in Stettin. In 1844 the Prince of Prussia, who was then the head of the Ministry of State, appointed him there as an expert councillor (vortragender Rat). Soon thereafter he was also made a member of the royal Council of State. He worked in the field of finance until in 1845 he was made Director at the Ministry of the Interior. The Vereinigte Landtag of 1847 (an assembly of the members of Prussia's provincial legislatures) gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his parliamentary skills, whereupon Manteuffel showed himself as a champion of the bureaucratic political system and an opponent of constitutional liberalism.

On 8 November 1848 he entered the cabinet of Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg

Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg

Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg was a German soldier and politician. He was the son of King Frederick William II of Prussia and Countess Sophie von Dönhoff. He and his sister were made count and countess in 1794, and he was raised with the sons of Field Marshal von Massow. In 1807, he...

 as Minister of the Interior. For the next ten years, he held various positions in the government and was high in the favor of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Manteuffel had a major part in drafting the Prussian constitution of 5 December 1848. But it was also he who contributed to the announcement of 7 January 1850, which repealed significant provisions of that constitution; he also defended it in Parliament. When he was temporarily entrusted with managing foreign affairs after the Count of Brandenburg died, he took part in the negotiations for the Agreement of Olmütz in November 1850, and surrendered the constitutional rights of Kurhessen and Holstein

Holstein

Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

 to the Austrian restauration zeal. "The strong man takes a step back"; these were the words with which he sought to calm the members of the recently re-established Bundestag who were unhappy with these measures. On 19 December 1850 he was permanently appointed Prussian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in which function he took part in the negotiations for the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1856)

The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, Second French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The treaty, signed on March 30, 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all...

of 1856. He remained in this post, leaning more and more on the support of the reactionary party, until October 1858, when the king gave up the throne, and the Prince of Prussia (afterwards Emperor William the Great) became regent.

On 6 November he and the entire cabinet were dismissed. He thereupon withdrew to his estate in Lausitz, and after being elected by Görlitz entered the Prussian House of Representatives, but did not participate in the proceedigs in any spectacular way. From 1864 he was a member of the Prussian House of Lords, he repeatedly worked to advance reactionary principles.

On 6 February 1850 he was made an honorary citizen of Berlin, and the Manteuffelstraße in Kreuzberg was named after him. In the southern part of Wlhelmshaven another Manteuffelstraße was opened on 17 June 1869 in the presence of King Wilhelm I. By the street lay the Manteuffelplatz (Exerzierplatz). He was also an honorary citizen of Danzig, Brandenburg an der Havel, Stettin and all the towns of the Niederlausitz.

He died at Gut Krossen in Luckau in Niederlausitz.