Born: October 29, 1802 in Weilburg
Died: August 3, 1862 in Frankfurt

The son of Friedrich von Dungern, head stable master and prince educator in Nassau, he attended Weilburg grammar school, graduated in 1820 and then studied law, economics and history in Heidelberg and Göttingen. In 1824, he joined the Nassau civil service as an accessory, where he rose to the position of ministerial assessor in 1829, ministerial councillor in 1832 and ministerial chancellery director in 1840. His father's social connections, adaptability and personal diligence contributed significantly to his advancement. In 1829, he married a daughter of the Nassau State Minister Ernst Franz Ludwig Marschall von Bieberstein and, after her death in 1834, her older sister. The resignation of Minister of State Karl Wilderich von Walderdorff in 1842 initially led to Dungern's appointment as executive head of the Interior Department, among other things, and in December 1843 to his appointment as Minister of State.

Personally unassuming and a devoted family man, his government actions were characterized by a willingness to compromise and a pragmatic approach to the demands of the time. During the revolution of 1848, he actively helped to shape the reorganization of state relations for a few weeks before resigning from office on 1 April following several requests for his resignation. However, he continued to be politically active as an advisor to the Duke, a member of the Erfurt Union Parliament of 1850, Nassau's representative at the Dresden Ministerial Conferences of 1850/51 and, from May 1851 until his death, as Nassau's envoy to the German Bundestag in Frankfurt. The funeral took place in the presence of Duke Adolf von Nassau on August 7, 1862 at the Old Cemetery on Platter Straße in Wiesbaden.