Mattheus, Antje

Mattheus, Antje

Antje Mattheus

1 December 2018Feature

Seeing the humanity in her enemies enabled one German activist to derail an attack by a motorcycle gang. In this piece, originally published on the Waging Nonviolence website, Antje Mattheus teases out some of the lessons for activists.

Connecticut Ave Biker Gang, 23 May 2008. Photo: Peachy Weasel (CC BY 2.0)

I grew up in a small West German village, Hamm an der Sieg. Without television or computers, my friends and I played outside and acted out adventure and survival stories. This daily practice taught me not to be afraid of physical encounters, and I developed a capacity for quick thinking and action. I didn’t know how useful that would turn out to be.

At 16, my mother and I moved to the large city of…