When in 1209 the Counts of Andechs-Merania were banned for their alleged role in the murder of the Hohenstaufen king Philip of Swabia at the wedding of Duke Otto I of Merania in Bamberg, Albert took over their sovereign rights in the Inn, Wipp, Eisack, and Gader valleys.

Shaping the independent County of Tyrol, he consolidated his position by quickly recognizing the now undisputed supremacy of Philip's rival, the Welf emperor Otto IV.

As a result, Albert acquired the Tyrolean possessions held by Otto II of Merania upon his death in 1248 and could also seize the lands of the extinct counts of Eppan in the same year.

In the fierce controversy after the deposition of Emperor Frederick II by Pope Innocent IV in 1245, Albert remained a protagonist of the imperial party and took the occasion to invade the ecclesiastical territories of Bishop-elect Philip of Salzburg.

Held in custody in Friesach, they were not released until December, after they ceded important possessions in Upper Carinthia, paid a large ransom and put up Meinhard's two sons as hostages.