Nietzsche was born on October 15th, 1844 in the small Prussian municipality of Rocken
(Raw-ken).
Upon his birth it was only natural for his father to choose the name Friedrich as this
particular day was the birthday of the reigning Prussian King, Frederick William the fourth.
The family was devoutly Lutheran, the father a working minister, while the mother tended
to the house and children instilling within them all the values consistent with a Christian
upbringing.
From a young age it wasn’t uncommon to find him secluded, situated between the covers
of the Holy Bible, as if there was nothing else a young child could be spending their
time on.
It was not without cause that he was often referred to by the other children as “the
little minister.”
Following the death of his father of an apparent brain ailment when Friedrich was only 5 the
mother moved her family approximately 30km away to Naumburg(Naam-brg).
While here Nietzsche attended a private preparatory school named “The Domgynasium(Dom-ge-nasium).”
From here he would pass on to Schulpforta(Shul-for-ta), Germany’s leading protestant boarding school.
1864 would bring his graduation wherein he would choose to continue his education at
the University of Bonn, studying theology and Classical Philology.
Shortly after beginning life at university Nietzsche would abandon the faith which once
constituted the very essence of his life.
From his own account he took the transition without notice, though something hints of
deception here, he writes to his sister “if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure,
then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.”
It would also be around this time that he would discover Schopenhauer’s “The World
as Will and Idea,” finding within it “a mirror in which I espied the world, life,
and my own nature depicted with frightful grandeur,” he said “it seemed as if Schopenhauer
were addressing me personally.”
Perhaps this was Nietzsche’s attempt at filling the void which the loss of his faith
had left behind.
The years at Bonn did not amount to much owing to frequent disagreements with the two leading
professors charged with his education.
In 1865 he decided it would be best if he transferred to the University of Leipzig,
a bold move, but one that payed its dividends; here his intellect would become apparent even
gaining the honor of being the only student to ever publish in professor Ritschl’s journal
the “Rhenishh Museum.”
His studies were interrupted for a time when in 1867 he spent a brief period in the military,
I say brief because it would not be long after he arrived that he would sustain a serious
injury to his breast muscles while apparently trying to mount a horse in 1868.
Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, the time he spent in the military was indeed,
so short, that he had no time to become disillusioned with it; so Nietzsche, being denied the life
of a warrior settled for its antipodes, a professor of classical philology in Basel(Baa-zel),
Switzerland.
It was uncommon, even for a genius; to gain the title of professor without completing
a dissertation, though with the help of Ritschl and a strong portfolio of past writings Nietzsche
gained the position and by 1870 he would become a full-fledged professor.
Perhaps the most fruitful of relationships throughout Nietzsche’s life would come in
1868 when he met the composer Richard Wagner and his then mistress Cosima.
He had been an admirer of Wagner’s for some time at the point of their first encounter,
he would often compared him to Aeschylus, restoring myths and symbols and uniting music
and drama once again.
A courteous friendship evolved and throughout the years which they would stay at Tribschen
(Tribs-shin) Nietzsche visited them often, even spending Christmas there in 1869.
It was the strength of reverence for Wagner which inspired Nietzsche to write his first
book “The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music,” though not soon after he reached
the Alps to begin its composition he received word that Germany and France had gone to war.
At this point in his life it was not within him to stand idly by while brave soldiers
marched into battle, however due to failing eyesight the position of soldier was denied
him once again.
He was still eager to contribute in whatever way his health would allow, so he took on
the role of medical orderly, but almost as soon as he had arrived he contracted dysentery
and diphtheria which, once again, removed him far from the life which he had so long
idolized.
He found himself back at Basle by October of 1871, though the duties which his position
required of him proved to be more than his health could bear, so he applied for the vacant
chair of philosophy and proposed that Erwin Rohde should take the chair of classical philology,
his transfer was declined.
Nietzsche was now only 27, but already he had finished and was prepared to publish his
first book “The Birth of Tragedy.”
Initially there were not many who acknowledged its presence, but it did gained some negative
press when colleagues, likely mistaking it for a conventional work of classical scholarship,
gave it reviews which utterly shocked and frustrated Nietzsche.
An old acquaintance, Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorf accused him harshly of ignorance, distortion
of the facts, and grotesque parallels between Greek and the modern world.
Being a professor of philology writing aesthetics you may think he could have seen this hostility
coming, but this was not the case.
Two individuals who adored the book were none other than the Wagners, this was probably
owing to its final 10 sections wherein he exalted Wagner’s music as the rebirth of
tragedy.
It seems odd, and perhaps a bit tragic, however the years which we have covered thus far were
undoubtedly the happiest of Nietzsche’s life.
Around the time“The Birth of Tragedy” was published the Wagner’s moved on from
Tribschen(tribs-shin), moving to Bayreuth and though this close friendship was waning,
Nietzsche remained a Wagnerian, at least for a time.
Following this move we sense a growing anxiety within Nietzsche about the quality and purpose
of his musical dramas as well as about the state of German culture in its totality.
This would be evident in a series of writings called “Untimely Meditations,” or otherwise
translated to “Thoughts out of season.”
He planned to complete thirteen sections, though only four arrived, the last of these
named “Richard Wagner in Bayreuth.”
It exalted Wagner as a hero “who has never learned the meaning of fear,” and who became
the first to fuse all the arts into a great esthetic synthesis.
It also held the purpose of bringing attention to the coming Wagner festival; he tells his
readers that “Bayreuth signifies for us the morning sacrament on the day of battle.”
It is difficult to determine, at least in order of significance, the factors which led
to Nietzsche’s break with Wagner, but it’s evident that his attendance at the Bayreuth
Festival strongly influenced his decision.
It could be said that Wagner was heading in a direction which Nietzsche could not, or
would not, go, so he fled, “tired with disgust of all that is feminism and undisciplined
rhapsody in that romanticism, that idealistic lying, that softening of the human conscience,
which had conquered here one of the bravest souls.”
He said not a word to Wagner, though he would run across him in Sorrento shortly after,
this would be the last of their personal encounters.
By 1878 the separation was complete, though he never forgot the friendship which once
was the very marrow of his life, in a lucid moment toward the end, when seeing a picture
of the great composer; he spoke quietly “him I loved much.”
Due to his failing health he took a temporary leave of absence from his responsibilities
as educator and began living with his sister Elisabeth.
After a short time together they would be separated following her marriage to a prominent
anti-Semite.
She planned to move to Paraguay in order to establish a community closer to her head’s
desire, this being one of that communistic sort.
She pleaded with her brother to accompany them, though Nietzsche would decline on the
basis that Europe being the “culture museum” that it is, was necessary for him.
Around this same time he was preparing to publish his work “Human, All to Human”
it’s size was immense, by far the largest of his works, numbering 638 sections.
Following its publication his health continued to deteriorate, so much so that he yielded
his chair at the University of Basle in 1879.
In this year alone he recorded 118 days of debilitating migraines; along with the lingering
impact of the dysentery and diphtheria that he had acquired during his time as a medical
orderly.
At this point in his life he had a difficult time with most tasks that required more than
minimal effort.
It was also thought that sometime around the same period he had contracted syphilis from
a prostitute, this certainly did not aid his situation.
By the end of the year he had been broken, defeated in mind and body; preparing himself
for death he said to a friend “see that no priest or anyone else utter falsehoods
at my gravesite.”
Eventually he did recover, spending the next decade vacillating between small towns in
northern Italy and the Swiss Alps.
Following this brush with death he came to a period of life wherein he became almost
an optimist, finding in life a sweetness that he felt he had missed before; “my formula
for life is Amor Fati,” he said, “… not only to bear up under every necessity, but
to love it.”
This sudden change in disposition baffled his closest friends, but Nietzsche payed this
no mind and continued to write profusely publishing “Daybreak” in 1880 and “The Gay Science”
soon after in 1882.
These books are a bit more in line with the essence of his later works and we feel that
he is moving toward the work which would become, as the great Summa Theologica was to Aquinas,
his masterpiece.
In fact it is here in The Gay Science which Nietzsche utters the most famous of his quotes,
that “God is dead,” and we have killed him.
And then came the event which provided Nietzsche, through the sheer devastation of its impact,
the inspiration to compose the book which he considered his best.
The event came shortly before the Christmas of 1882, he had met a woman, Lou Salome, to
which he expressed limitless love and admiration.
This was something we did not see often in Nietzsche, and it was not long before he decided
that through the aid of his friend Paul Ree he would propose to Lou expecting that she
shared his love in equal measure.
She gave no definitive reply, but it became clear to him that the love he had hoped was
reserved for him was instead given to the same friend which he entrusted the delivery
of his proposal.
The humiliation was almost too much for him to bear, on Christmas day he writes to his
friend Franz Overbeck, we can hear the desperation in his words, he writes “This last morsel
of life was the hardest I have yet had to chew, and it is still possible that I shall
choke on it.
. . . Unless I discover the alchemical trick to turning this muck into gold, I am lost.”
And so, filled with vitriol he set off, finding refuge in the Engadin region of the Swiss
Alps in 1883.
That same year, in that “hallowed hour when Richard Wagner gave up the ghost in Venice,”
Nietzsche published his work titled Thus Spake Zarathustra.
He believed it to be his masterpiece, “This work stands alone,” “If all the spirit
of goodness of every great soul were collected together, the whole could not create a single
one of Zarathustra’s discourses” he wrote of it later.
Unfortunately, and to the great dismay of the author, it was a non-event among academics.
In fact he paid for its publication himself: a staggering forty copies were sold, and additional
seven were given away; one can imagine the strain of its failure on the mind of an already
fragile Nietzsche.
Following this failure he continued writing, though due to his worsening eyesight he wrote,
from this point on, only aphorisms.
He insisted that these publications were but commentary on Zarathustra.
Beyond Good and Evil was the first of these to appear, followed by its self-proclaimed
sequel The Genealogy of Morals which was simply meant to “supplement and clarify” what
was previously stated.
In 1888, the final year of his sane life, Nietzsche remained exceedingly productive,
writing copiously, though the contents did become increasingly strange.
He began “The Trans Valuation of All Values,” but was unable to complete it; the reason
for this is simply that Nietzsche seems to have found himself at a loss for words.
While he did not complete this work he did complete several others, including “The
Antichrist,(1895)” “Twilight of the Idols,(1889)” “The Case of Wagner,(1895)” “Ecce Homo,(1908)”
and “The Will to Power.(1908)” While all of these were completed around the same time,
their publication would span almost 20 years thereafter.
Sometime in January of 1889 Nietzsche, while walking the streets of Turin, collapsed, shambling
back to his attic room he began writing letters erratically, the recipients included Cosima,
Brandes, Burckhardt, and Franz Overbeck.
What he wrote brought to Overbeck enough concern that he rushed to his side.
Upon arriving he found Nietzsche seated at the piano ploughing its keys with his elbows,
singing incoherently.
From this point onward his mental state became increasingly unstable, his physical state
increasingly fragile.
Nietzsche was brought to Basel where he stayed in an asylum until his mother came to take
him in “What a picture! – the pious woman who had borne sensitively but patiently the
shock of her son’s apostasy from all that she held dear, and who, loving him none the
less, received him now into her arms.”
She would pass in 1897 wherein his care was entrusted to his sister Elisabeth.
They lived in Weimar and though his mind was slipping he had gained the peace which during
his sane life was never his.
Lucid moments were increasingly rare, but they were not absent.
Sitting in his chair, as he often did in these final years, he overheard Elisabeth speaking
of books to some company she had over, Nietzsche smiled, uttering softly “Ah, I too have
written some good books!”
He died on August 25th in the year of 1900, as to the cause of his deterioration it is
impossible to give a definitive answer, though it seems most attribute this to the syphilis
he contracted in 1870.
However, more recently, it is thought that he may have suffered from degeneration of
the cerebral blood vessels secondary to a retro-orbital meningioma (Tumor of the brain
meninges).
This is not outside the realm of possibility after all we know his father had suffered
from a similar pathology.
It’s no secret to most that, at least in popular culture, Nietzsche’s name is often
brought up in the same general conversation as that of Hitler or of the Nazi party in
general.
I believe we can be quite confident in saying that Nietzsche would have loathed the party
and its leaders, so why is his image so entangled with their ideology?
The phenomenon began toward the end of his life after coming under the care of his Sister
Elisabeth.
You see, she had been married to prominent Anti-Semite, and while his death was in 1889,
his views lived on into the present through the mutilation and manipulation of her brother’s
work.
At times she is even found to have fabricated works to better fit these views.
Her control over his library was enough that generations of commentators, because of her
reverence for the anti-Semetic ideology, were misled into believing that it was instead
his reverence they were hearing.
Regardless of these misuses there have been plenty of others who’ve been influenced
by his works.
Philosophers, Novelists, Psychologists, Playwrights, and even Theologians; all have given Nietzsche
words of admiration and praise.
Even today he remains among the most beloved philosophers in history.
If you enjoyed learning of the man who was Friedrich Nietzsche and would like to learn
of the beliefs that he held keep an eye out for my upcoming video on “The Philosophy
of Friedrich Nietzsche.”
And as always thank you for talking philosophy with me, until next time.