After the death of the Emperor Lothair II (1137), the new king, Conrad III, granted the Duchy of Saxony to Albert the Bear.
In 1143 as a result of the Wendish Crusade, Henry and Adolf divided the rule of the conquered Slavic lands to their east.
Adolf, encouraged by Lothair, promoted German colonisation of his Slavic territories, especially with colonists from not only his own lands but also from Westphalia, Flanders, Holland, Utrecht, and Frisia.
Adolf supported Sweyn III of Denmark against the claimant Canute V in a dispute over the Danish throne.
[citation needed] In 1159, Adolf accompanied the Emperor Frederick I into Italy and in 1164 he aided Henry the Lion against the Obotrites, dying in the Battle of Verchen.