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What Was Nietzsche's Nationality?

What Was Nietzsche's Nationality? What Was Nietzsche’s Nationality? DANIEL BLUE eaders of his later work are familiar with the cosmopolitan Nietzsche, the Rrestless traveler who liked to summer in Switzerland and winter on the Riviera. They may be less aware that he surrendered his Prussian citizenship at the age of twenty-four, in order to teach at the University of Basel, and that he lived stateless for the rest of his life. It is understandable, then, that he should construe himself as a “Good European” and occasionally indulge in the fantasy that he might be Polish. Even the most blasé of cosmopolites, however, must begin their lives locally. Whatever his later pretensions, the official documents record that Nietzsche was born Prussian, spent his childhood and adolescence in Prussian schools, was drafted by the Prussian military while still a university undergraduate, and served with its forces during the Franco-Prussian War. More to the point, he consid- ered himself Prussian throughout his youth and, as will be seen, enthusiastically embraced that nationality during a time of crisis. Legally, then, and in virtue of the formal institutions in which he participated, Nietzsche was unquestionably Prussian, at least before he went to Basel. Yet none of Nietzsche’s grandparents http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of Nietzsche Studies Penn State University Press

What Was Nietzsche's Nationality?

Blue, Daniel.
The Journal of Nietzsche Studies , Volume 33 (1) – Jul 25, 2007
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Publisher
Penn State University Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 The Pennsylvania State University.
ISSN
1538-4594

Abstract

What Was Nietzsche’s Nationality? DANIEL BLUE eaders of his later work are familiar with the cosmopolitan Nietzsche, the Rrestless traveler who liked to summer in Switzerland and winter on the Riviera. They may be less aware that he surrendered his Prussian citizenship at the age of twenty-four, in order to teach at the University of Basel, and that he lived stateless for the rest of his life. It is understandable, then, that he should construe himself as a “Good European” and occasionally indulge in the fantasy that he might be Polish. Even the most blasé of cosmopolites, however, must begin their lives locally. Whatever his later pretensions, the official documents record that Nietzsche was born Prussian, spent his childhood and adolescence in Prussian schools, was drafted by the Prussian military while still a university undergraduate, and served with its forces during the Franco-Prussian War. More to the point, he consid- ered himself Prussian throughout his youth and, as will be seen, enthusiastically embraced that nationality during a time of crisis. Legally, then, and in virtue of the formal institutions in which he participated, Nietzsche was unquestionably Prussian, at least before he went to Basel. Yet none of Nietzsche’s grandparents

Journal

The Journal of Nietzsche Studies – Penn State University Press

Published: Jul 25, 2007

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