Still a minor when his father died in 1181, he initially was under guardianship of his maternal uncle Duke Leopold V of Austria.

Therefore, he had to stand back when the Otakar rulers of Styria became extinct and Leopold concluded the 1186 Georgenberg Pact with Ottokar IV in order to reserve the right of succession for the Austrian House of Babenberg.

Ulrich II came of age to rule independently from 1194 and, like his father, remained a loyal supporter of the Imperial Hohenstaufen dynasty.

When Emperor Henry VI called for the German Crusade in 1195, the Carinthian duke was among the many nobles who undertook to go,[3] even though he had scarcely reached adulthood.

When they heard the news many of the higher-ranking nobles returning to Germany to protect their interests in the forthcoming Imperial election.