Katja Meier (born 10 September 1979) is a German politician who is a member of

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

. She was a member of the

Landtag of Saxony The Landtag of Saxony (), also known in English as the Saxon State Parliament, is the legislature of the Free State of Saxony, one of Germany's sixteen states. It is responsible for legislation, control of the government, and electing some sta ...

2015-2020 and has been serving as Saxon State Minister of Justice and for Democracy, European Affairs and Equality since 20 December 2019.

Early life and education

Meier was born in Zwickau. In the 1990s, she played bass in a local punk band called ''Harlekin''. After passing her ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in 1998, she studied political science, modern and contemporary history and sociology at the Universities of

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

, and

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, graduating with a MA degree in 2004.

Political career

Meier became a member of the Greens in 2005 and became a member of the

in 2015, after the originally elected gave up her seat. Jointly with

Wolfram Günther Wolfram Günther (born 27 June 1973 in Leipzig) is a German lawyer and politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as Vice Minister-President and State Minister for energy, climate protection, environment and agriculture in the Seco ...

, she was elected as her party's top candidate in the

2019 Saxony state election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

. Subsequent coalition talks led to a black-red-green coalition under Minister-President

Michael Kretschmer Michael Kretschmer (born 7 May 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister President of Saxony since December 2017. Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under th ...

, and Meier was given the post of Saxon State Minister of Justice and for Democracy, Europe and Equality on 20 December 2019, and subsequently gave up her seat in the Landtag on 9 January 2020.

Controversies

In early 2020, videos of the punk band Meier had been playing bass guitar in as a teenager surfaced, including an anti-police song with violent lyrics ("Advent, Advent, a cop is burning. First one, then two, then three", paraphrasing the well known

advent song Advent songs () are songs and hymns intended for Advent, the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Topics of the time of expectation are the hope for a Messiah, prophecies, and the symbolism of light, among others. Several of the songs are part o ...

and children's rhyme ). Meier was attacked by politicians of the far right

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

over this; she distanced herself from any support of violence, and was supported by politicians from other parties. After Meier raised a

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the seven spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. History In the 18th century, American Revolutionary ...

in front of her ministry building to celebrate

Christopher Street Day Christopher Street Day (CSD) is an annual European LGBTQ+ celebration and demonstration held in various cities across Europe for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and against discrimination and exclusion. It is Germany's and Switzerland's counter ...

2020, a citizen took the ministry to court for violation of neutrality. The courts allowed the flag to stay. Meier was nominated by her party as delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

.17th Federal Convention, 13 February 2022, List of Members

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

Personal life

Meier lives in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Her partner is Josefine Paul, chairwoman of the Green group in the

Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Düsseldorf-Hafen, Hafen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Katja 1979 births Living people People from Zwickau German LGBTQ politicians LGBTQ legislators in Germany 20th-century German LGBTQ people 21st-century German LGBTQ people Alliance 90/The Greens politicians Members of the Landtag of Saxony Ministers of the Saxony State Government Female justice ministers Women ministers of state governments in Germany