He was the third son of Gerhard I and Elisabeth of Mecklenburg and was married to Helen of Saxe-Lauenburg,[1] daughter of John I, Duke of Saxony.

When Gerhard I died in 1290, his sons divided the inheritance.

Adolph VI received Holstein-Pinneberg and the ancestral County of Schaumburg.

[2] Adolph is considered the founder of the younger Schauenburg line; his brothers founded the Holstein-Plön and Holstein-Rendsburg lines.

[3] In 1302, he began construction of the water castle at Bückeburg to defend the main trade route.