He made an important contribution to the colonisation and Germanisation of the lands north of the Elbe.
He was appointed to hold as fiefs Holstein and Stormarn, including Hamburg, by Lothair, Duke of Saxony, in 1111.
Allied with Henry, the prince of the Obotrites, he repeatedly waged war on Wagria and the Rugians.
Feeling his authority threatened by the Danish upstart, Adolf attacked his castle of Albergs, captured the garrison, and destroyed its defences.
He left his counties intact to his second son, Adolf II, since his eldest, Hartung, had been killed in the Second Battle of Chlumec in 1126.