His older brother was Isaac Bernays, later the important chief rabbi of Hamburg.
Adolphus Bernays became the first Professor of German in 1831 at King's College London Strand Campus.
He published numerous books to assist his tuition, among them A Compendious German Grammar stood several editions.
They had 9 children, among them Lewis Adolphus Bernays (1831–1908), public servant and agricultural writer in Queensland, Australia, and Albert James Bernays, English chemist.
Adolphus died at The Rectory, Great Stanmore, Middlesex.