 He was a member of the Prussian National Assembly of 1848 and later that year, served as Prussian Minister of War from 7 September to 2 November, as well as Prime Minister of Prussia.Pfuel was a close friend of Heinrich von Kleist.He was also an innovator of the breaststroke swimming technique, and the founder of the world's first military swimming-school, in 1810 in Prague.