He was the son of Count Adolph III, who had founded the elder Waldeck-Landau in 1397, and his wife, Agnes of Ziegenhain.
Until then the Counts of Waldeck — and Ziegenhain — had managed to maintain their independence by carefully maneuvering between Hesse and Mainz.
This later led to a controversy between Waldeck and Hesse, which was only resolved with a compromise in 1635, andconfirmed in the Peace Treaty of Westphalia of 1648.
He promised that if his relatives in the Waldeck-Waldeck line would ask his permission to submit themselves to another Prince, or to sell of pledge their half of Waldeck, he would withhold his consent.
Otto III, whose sister Elisabeth was John II's widow, and his son Otto IV renounced their claims on Ziegenhain and Nidda, the Lordship of Lißberg and Lißberg Castle on 30 September 1455 orally and in writing before a tribunal chaired by the Hessian marshall John of Meisenburg, allegedly in return for a financial compensation.