Adsorption onto Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and mineral surfaces are the a major controlling factors governing the bioavailability and leaching behaviour of pollutants in soils. Altering the general chemical properties of soils has a major impact on the sorption properties. In a serious of studies we examined the impact of soil development, soil management (e.g. fertilisation, manuring) and land use (arable land, permanent pasture, floodplane forest) on the sorption properties of selected organic compounds (polar and apolar substances: naphthalene and its derivatives with different functional groups) and heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Zn). The investigated soil samples were obtained from two long-term field experiments, located in Ultuna (Sweden, set up in 1956) and Gumpenstein (Austria, set up in 1962). Another set of samples was derived from three chronosequences of floodplane soils in the Elbe, Ebro and Danube basin. In both long-term experiments, especially the quantity and quality of soil organic matter and the pH-values were influenced by long-term management practices. However, no significant impact on the mineral phase was found. The soil profiles in the floodplanes turned out to be of largely varying age according to the abundances of natural and artificial radionuclides present in the different horizons, from a few decades to thousands of years. Topsoil pH increased from the Elbe to the Danube and Ebro soils. Significant variations were also observed for SOC, electrical conductivity and nitrogen contents. Mainly experimental batch sorption experiments were conducted using a standard procedure. Comparison of the distribution coefficients (K_D, K_Freundlich) revealed significant differences in the adsorption behaviour of the investigated soils. We observed variations of K_F or K_D values of up to a factor of 4.4 and 6 for heavy metals and organic compounds, respectively. In the Ultuna experiment, for instance, the amount of adsorbed Cu on soil with permanent pasture was twice as high as on the plot which was treated as fallow. Heavy metal adsorption in differently treated plots can be predicted mainly by pH, SOM, carboxyl- and carbonyl-C and DOC. A respective empirical model was derived. In case of organic compounds, molecular properties, like the octanol-water coefficients, the charge distribution around specific functional groups and the resulting electrostatic potential, govern the sorption behaviour of the investigated substances. This was underpinned by model sorption experiments and ab-initio calculations of local polarity parameters derived from Sigma-profiles. Results allow us to quantify the influence of different farming practices and landuse on the sorption properties of soils for organic and inorganic compounds. Further these results provide a data set to gain more information about active adsorptions sites in soils and they can support theoretical sorption models on soil matrices.