 Meier-Graefe was born in Reschitz, Banat, Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and now located in modern Romania.He was the grandson of (), and son of , a government civil engineer, and Marie Theresie (Marie-Thérèse) Meier née (1835, Halle/Saale1867, Resicabánya) who died giving birth to him.The family, including his brother , moved to a small town near Düsseldorf, Germany.