Silvio Meier

Silvio Meier (1965–1992) was an East German activist and squatter who was killed by neo-Nazis in Berlin on 21 November 1992. After moving to East Berlin in 1986, Meier became involved in oppositional politics with the Church from Below . His death has been commemorated with an annual memorial march and the renaming of a street in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain.

Career Silvio Meier was born in 1965 and grew up in the East German town of Quedlinburg. before moving to East Berlin in 1986 where he quickly became involved in the punk movement and oppositional politics. He helped to found the (Church from Below) organisation, which campaigned for a space to organise alternative events. One such event was a clandestine concert in the Zionskirchplatz church on 17 October 1987 which attracted one thousand people, with the band Die Firma supporting the headliners Element of Crime, who were from West Berlin. Meier had good connections to the West Berlin anarchist scene because his older brother was living in exile there. This was the beginning of a housing movement which squatted over 100 buildings by mid-1990 and then declined after the Battle of Mainzer Straße in November.

Death and legacy

In 1992, Meier was living at Schreinerstrasse 47 and working as a printer. He had a one-year-old son and called his house "Villa Felix" after him.

The following day, a group of 100 people met at Schrienerstrasse 47. They marched to a youth club named after Judith Auer in Lichtenberg which was known to be frequented by neo-Nazis and ransacked it. All three were associated with the youth club. In April 2013, a street in Friedrichshain was renamed Silvio-Meier-Straße. The previous year a self-managed social centre in Bologna had named a square after Meier.

In 2016, the Silvio Meier Prize was created by the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough as a means to recognise actions taken against right-wing extremism. It was awarded to two anti-fascist activists. The following year it was received by the campaign Stand Up Against Racism.