[citation needed] In July 1873, shortly after his Second State Exam, he was unanimously elected mayor of Dortmund, a position he served for three years.

In 1876, Adickes was appointed as the second mayor in the Prussian city of Altona, succeeding Friedrich Thaden.

[citation needed] Adickes died two and a half years after the end of his term as mayor of Frankfurt.

[citation needed] In 1912, he was appointed honorary citizen of the city of Frankfurt, and in 1914 was awarded the title "Real Geheimer Rat", a symbolic honor for the highest officials in Prussia.

[citation needed] In 1996, on the occasion of Adickes' 150th birthday, the Institute of Urban History organized the exhibition Breakthrough to Modernity.