The Individual and Romanticism

Nietzsche in the 19th Century

Friedrich Nietzsche was born on October 15 , 1844 , in the German town of Roecken bei Luetzen , where his father was the town minister . His father died from a brain ailment when he was four years old . Nietzsche lived for the next eight years with his mother , paternal grandmother , his father 's two sisters , and his younger sister (1846-1935

At age 14 Nietzsche went to a first-rate boarding school , Schulpforta There Nietzsche met the future founder of the Schopenhauer Society , Paul Deussen , who became his lifelong acquaintance . During

his summers he headed Germania , a small music and literature club , where he was introduced to Richard Wagner 's music through the club 's subscription to the Zeitschrift fuer Musik . During this time he also read the works of German romantic Friedrich Hoelderlin and Jean-Paul Richter , and also David Strauss 's Das Leben Jesu kritisch bearbeitet (Life of Jesus critically examined (Steinberg , 2000

In 1864 , after Schulpforta , Nietzsche went to the University of Bonn here he took up theology and philology he gradually found more interest in philology , and focused on it almost exclusively . Nietzsche attended lectures by Otto Jahn , a biographer of Mozart , and Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschi , a classics scholar whose work focused on the Roman poet Plautus (Wicks , 2004

In 1865 , at age 21 , Nietzsche followed Ritschi to the University of Leipzig , where Nietzsche published essays on Aristotle , Thegnis , and Simonides because of this he quickly established his academic reputation . In the same year he accidentally found Arthur Schopenhauer 's The World as Will and Representation in a bookstore . Nietzsche was tremendously influenced by Schopenhauer 's writings , which presented atheistic ideas and also an appreciation of music as one of the highest art forms (Wicks , 2004 (However , Nietzsche would later dismiss Schopenhauer 's influence as a "cadaverous perfume . Nietzsche was also probably influenced by Schopenhauer 's work "On Women " as some of the ideas he presented in his works concerning women seem to parallel Schopenhauer 's ( Friedrich Nietzsche , 2006

After the discovery of the book , Nietzsche read and found interest in F .A Lange 's History of Materialism and Critique of its Present Significance , which viewed metaphysical speculation as an expression of poetic illusion (Wicks , 2004

In 1867 Nietzsche rendered his required military service . He was assigned close to his hometown of Naumburg , and so lived at home with his mother . He suffered a serious chest injury while attempting to leap-mount an unruly horse . When the wound would not heal he was put on sick leave , after which he returned to the University of Leipzig . During this time , in 1868 , he met the composer Richard Wagner . They both had great interest in Schopenhauer . Nietzsche admired Wagner 's musical genius , as Nietzsche himself had been composing piano , choral , and orchestral music since his teens . In their relationship , Wagner , who would have been as old as Nietzsche 's father , had an almost paternal role the relationship had a great influence on Nietzsche . Nietzsche maintained his friendship for...