Adolf III of Holstein

Adolf III, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein (c. 1160 – 3 January 1225) was the ruler of the Counties of Schauenburg and Holstein. He is particularly remembered for his establishment of a new settlement for traders on the banks of the Alster near the Neue Burg in Hamburg.

Descent Adolf III was the only son of Count Adolf II of Holstein-Wagria and succeeded him in 1164, initially under the guardianship of his mother Mechthild of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg, a daughter of Count Sizzo III of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg.

Life Count Adolf III at first supported Henry the Lion. He accompanied him on his expedition against Philipp von Heinsberg, Archbishop of Cologne, fought at the Battle of Halerfeld on 1 August 1180 (to the north-west of Osnabrück) at the side of Count Bernhard I of Ratzeburg, when he received from Henry the Lion the decisive rights in the region of the Middle Weser which formed the basis of the County of Schauenburg. The reconquest of Holstein was left for his son and heir, Adolf IV of Holstein.

In about 1224, at the request of Konrad von Rüdenberg, Prince-Bishop of Minden, Count Adolf III relinquished the Vogtei of Wennigsen Abbey in Wennigsen. The deed recording this act is the first surviving written record of this monastery.

Count Adolf III married firstly, in 1182, Adelheid of Assel (d. 25 December 1185) and secondly Adelheid of Querfurt. ''' 2= 2. Adolf II of Holstein 3= 3. Mechthild of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg 4= 4. Adolf I of Holstein 6= 6. Sizzo III of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg 7= 7. Gisela of Berg 12= 12. Günther I of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg 13= 13. Matilda Yaropolkovna of Turov-Pinsk 14= 14. Adolf III of Berg 15= 15. Adelaide of Cleves 24= 24. Sizzo II of Schwarzburg 25= 25. Unknown 26= 26. Yaropolk Izyaslavich 28= 28. Adolf II of Berg 29= 29. Adelaide of Lauffen 30= 30. Dietrich II of Cleves 31= 31. Adelaide of Sulzbach