Civic dignitary heads off skinhead from Berlin? (8)
I believe the answer is:
alderman
'civic dignitary' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alderman that I've seen before include "Member of English county council" , "superior member of county council" , "Former civic dignitary" , "Member of an English city council" , "Old municipal official" .)