Stefan Meier (November 6, 1889 in Neustadt in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

– 19 September 1944 in

Mauthausen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern German ...

concentration camp) was a German politician (SPD) who was one of the MPs who voted against the adoption of the

Enabling Act An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to car ...

which formed the legal basis for the establishment of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

dictatorship.

Life and work

German Empire (1889 to 1919)

After attending elementary school in St. Georgen near

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

in the years 1897 to 1904, Stefan Meier was working one year as a farm worker. From July 1905 to December 1908, he took a commercial apprenticeship. In 1906, he joined the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD). From October 1909 to September 1910 Meier was in the military. Then he worked until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in various companies as executive assistant and clerk. Meier fought in the war from August 1914 to November 1918. In July 1915, during the war he became engaged with Emma Hofheinz. The marriage produced a daughter, Margret and sons Huber and Richard.

Weimar Republic (1919 to 1933)

The first political offices which Meier took were in local politics. From May 1919 up until October 1927, he was a city councilor in Freiburg. He also held the post of party secretary of the SPD for the district of Freiburg. In 1922, Meier was a self-employed businessperson. In December 1924, Meier was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. During the next four legislative sessions (December 1924-November 1932), he represented the 32nd constituency. After his temporary departure from the Reichstag in the election of November 1932, Meier returned in the election of March 1933 to the Berlin parliament, where he saw the final loss of his mandate in June of that year.

Nazi era (1933 to 1944)

In March 1933, Meier was one of 94 MPs who voted against the adoption of the Enabling Act, which formed the legal basis for the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship and was finally passed by a majority of 444 to 94 votes. From March 1933 to March 1934, Stefan Meier was held captive in "protective custody" at the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

Ankenbuck. After his release, Meier was proprietor of a tobacco shop in Freiburg. In 1939, he served as a driver for the motorized police. In October 1941, Stefan Meier, after denunciation by a neighbor, was arrested again and sentenced by a Special Court of Freiburg Regional Court for undermining military strength or "conspiracy to commit high treason" to three years in prison. Immediately after the completion of his prison term, Stefan Meier was transferred to the

concentration camp, where he died in September 1944. The noted cause of death was "acute

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

". Before his arrest, Stefan Meier did not have a history of heart problems.Martin Schumacher (Hrsg.): ''M.d.R. Die Reichstagsabgeordneten der Weimarer Republik in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Politische Verfolgung, Emigration und Ausbürgerung 1933−1945.'' Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1991, , S. 393.

Honors and awards

Memorials for Stefan Meier are today found near his former home in the city Freiburg. Freiburg renamed named the Bismarck Street in honor of Stefan Meier as Stefan-Meier-Strasse (or Stefan Meier Street). In 1989, the city of Freiburg commemorated Meier's 100th Birthday with an event in the historic council chamber of the Freiburg City Hall. Since 1992, one of the ninety-six Stolpersteine (or Stumbling Stones), which are memorial stones placed in the street in front of the homes of members of parliament murdered by the Nazis, was dedicated to Meier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Stefan Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians People who died in Mauthausen concentration camp 1889 births 1944 deaths Politicians who died in Nazi concentration camps German civilians killed in World War II Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic People from Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald