Albert succeeded his elder brother John III in 1356 as Duke of Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln, a branch duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg.
He died without an heir and was succeeded by his younger brother Eric III.
Therefore, Lübeck manned Mölln with armed guards maintaining law and order on the roads.
So Albert and his cousin Eric II of Saxe-Lauenburg–Ratzeburg-Lauenburg agreed on ravaging merchants and other travellers passing their duchies near Hamburg.
So in 1363 the city of Hamburg and Adolphus VII, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Kiel, supported by his relative Prince-Archbishop Albert II of Bremen, freed the streets northeast of the city from the brigandage by Eric II and Albert V, conquering the latter's castle in Bergedorf.