He was the second son of Berthold IV, Duke of Merania and Agnes of Rochlitz, daughter of Dedi III, Margrave of Lusatia of the House of Wettin.

Earlier in 1207, Henry II married Sophie, daughter and heir of Count Albert of Weichselburg (died 1209) in modern Slovenia, in which the Andechs spent huge wealth in the Windic March.

Then, in 1208, he had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time: he became complicit in the murder of King Philip of Swabia, after the wedding of his oldest brother, Otto I, Duke of Merania and his bride Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy at Bamberg, the seat of his second eldest brother, Ekbert, Bishop of Bamberg and the one who presided over the wedding.

Today this incident is regarded a disgrace on the part of the House of Wittelsbach, but the rapid decline in support of the house of Andechs saw Henry II and Bishop Ekbert lose all rights, properties, dignities and revenues and had to flee to their sister, Gertrude, Queen of Hungary, in Hungary in 1209 for safety.

Although he had a connection with Aquileia – his younger brother Berthold was Patriarch there from 1218 to 1251 – and Leopold VI, Duke of Austria, he was mainly limited as a privateer on his and Sophie's possessions in later Lower Styria and Krain.