Adolf II of Holstein
Count of Schauenburg and Holstein
Adolf II of Holstein (c. 1128 – 6 July 1164) was the Count of Schauenburg and Holstein from 1130 until his death, though he was briefly out of Holstein from 1137 until 1142. He succeeded his father Adolf I under the regency of his mother, Hildewa.
After the death of the Emperor Lothair II (1137), the new king, Conrad III, granted the Duchy of Saxony to Albert the Bear. Adolf was consequently deprived of Holstein because he was a Welf supporter and refused to recognise Albert as duke. He only received it back in 1142 when Conrad and Henry the Lion were reconciled.
In 1143 as a result of the Wendish Crusade, Henry and Adolf divided the rule of the conquered Slavic lands to their east. Adolf received Wagria with its chief city, the castle of Sigberg, built by Lothair, and Henry received Polabia with Ratzeburg as its capital. Sigberg became Adolf's chief fortress and most regular seat. Adolf promoted Christianity in his new lands, especially through the missionary work of Vicelinus. Adolf, encouraged by Lothair, promoted German colonisation of his Slavic territories, especially with colonists from not only his own lands but also from Westphalia, Flanders, Holland, Utrecht, and Frisia.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q362626. VIAF identifies the subject as 15840750. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1128, 1164, 1130 and 1137.
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This entry incorporates text from “Adolf II of Holstein” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.