Henry the Lion
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.