Nietzsche commentary
The Nietzsche Commentary Research Center mourns the loss of its founder and long-time director
PROF. DR. JOCHEN SCHMIDT (internal link)
who passed away on May 18, 2020, at the age of 81.
Jochen Schmidt not only founded the Nietzsche-Kommentar publishing house, led it until 2014, and actively supported it until very recently, but also set new standards in international Nietzsche scholarship with his own commentaries on *The Birth of Tragedy* and *The Dawn*. He was an exceptionally kind-hearted supervisor, colleague, doyen, and friend who knew how to motivate and inspire us in countless ways. Jochen Schmidt will remain a great role model for us, both personally and academically.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) is arguably the most influential German-language author of the modern era on an international scale. An almost overwhelming flood of publications has been devoted to his work, which has had a global impact not only on philosophical discourse but also on literature, art, anthropology, psychology, theology, politics, and popular culture, among other fields.
This makes it all the more surprising that no comprehensive commentary on his writings has been published to date. The supplementary volumes of the Critical Complete Edition of Nietzsche’s Works by Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari remain—due to their focus on textual criticism—deliberately restrained in their commentary. The Nietzsche Commentary addresses this gap, primarily for the writings published during his lifetime or intended for publication, and thereby lays the groundwork for the commentary on his posthumous works—which are of great significance in terms of their historical impact—a task that is equally urgent in the long term.
Transdisciplinary and comparative methods
A transdisciplinary and comparative approach is, to a large extent, dictated by the subject matter itself when commenting on Nietzsche’s works. It hardly needs pointing out how frequently Nietzsche, as a classical philologist, drew upon ancient literature and philosophy, how profoundly the linguistic style of the Bible influenced him, and what deep imprints his engagement with the artistic, religious, and scientific traditions of the modern era left on his writings. This applies not only to German but to the entire history of European thought. Fixed points of his intellectual orientation and engagement included, for example, French moral philosophy from Montaigne to La Rochefoucauld, the French Enlightenment, and the proponents of a “modern” diagnosis of décadence from Baudelaire to Bourget. He also engaged intensively with Italian, Russian, English, and American literature. Historical analyses from Tocqueville to Jacob Burckhardt served as important reference points for him. Positivism and historicism, as well as 19th-century psychology and physiology, engaged him just as deeply as Schopenhauer, Wagner, and Darwin.
The history of Nietzsche’s influence is similarly multifaceted; in 1950, Gottfried Benn called him “the greatest phenomenon of intellectual influence in the history of ideas.” It suffices to recall Thomas Mann, Hofmannsthal, Musil, Benn, Freud, and Heidegger, as well as Nietzsche’s influence on French intellectual life from Gide to Derrida, and furthermore the ideological and political explosive power that the ideologically co-opted Nietzsche acquired in the 20th century. Since Nietzsche’s wide-ranging history of reception and influence constitutes a highly complex topic in its own right, one that would require investigation in a separate research project, the commentary on Nietzsche in this regard is limited to remarks on the specific history of reception of the respective works being discussed.
Function and Design
The Nietzsche Commentary by Jochen Schmidt, Katharina Grätz, Sebastian Kaufmann, Barbara Neymeyr, and Andreas Urs Sommer is Academy of Sciences and Humanities by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and is based at the Department of German Studies (Division of Modern German Literature) at the University of Freiburg(external link). Spanning six comprehensive volumes, it will contextualize Nietzsche’s works within their intellectual and cultural-historical context, thereby establishing a new foundation for understanding Nietzsche’s thought and poetry.
The commentary aims to bring together, systematize, and expand upon existing but scattered research findings. In addition, it offers interpretive approaches to key aspects. Introductory overview commentaries provide information on the conceptual, structural, and historical contexts of the individual works, including their origins and impact. Lematized commentaries on specific passages explain important details of the corresponding text sections. In-depth contextual and source research is essential for this purpose.
brochure
Commentary on Nietzsche (PDF)
head of research
Prof. Dr. Andreas Urs Sommer (external link)
Employees
- Prof. Dr. Katharina Grätz (external link)
- PD Dr. Sebastian Kaufmann (external link)
Former employees
- Prof. Dr. Jochen Schmidt (external link)(project initiator and head of the research unit from January 2008 to August 2014) †
- Prof. Dr. Barbara Neymeyr (external link)(until March 2013)
Project support committee
- Prof. Dr. Barbara Beßlich (Heidelberg)
- Prof. Dr. Heinrich Detering (Göttingen)
- Prof. Dr. Werner Frick (Freiburg)
- Prof. Dr. Volker Gerhardt (Berlin)
- Prof. Dr. Beatrix Himmelmann (Tromsø)
- Prof. Dr. Lore Hühn (Freiburg), Vice Chair
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Kemmerling (Heidelberg)
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Maissen (Heidelberg)
- Prof. Dr. Jochen Schmidt (Freiburg)
- Prof. Dr. Volker Sellin (Heidelberg)
- Prof. Dr. Gerd Theißen (Heidelberg), Chair
- Prof. Dr. Vivetta Vivarelli (Florence)
- Prof. Dr. Michael Welker (Heidelberg)
- Prof. Dr. Albrecht Winnacker (Erlangen)
- Prof. Dr. Otfried Höffe (Tübingen)
Outline
Die Publikationen der Forschungsstelle sind über die Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg online durch folgenden Link zugänglich: https://digi.hadw-bw.de/view/nietzsche_kom.
The series of commentary volumes is organized chronologically as follows:
| Track number | Title and Bibliographic Information |
|---|---|
| Vol. 1/1: | The Birth of Tragedy, by , with commentary by Jochen Schmidt, published in 2012 (ISBN 978-3-11-028692-2) |
| Vol. 1/2: | Anachronistic Reflections I: David Strauss, the Confessor and the Writer. II: On the Benefits and Drawbacks of History for Life, with commentary by Barbara Neymeyr, published in 2020 (ISBN 978-3-11-028682) |
| Vol. 1/3: | On Truth and Lies in an Extra-Moral Sense, with commentary by Sarah Scheibenberger, published in 2016 (ISBN 978-3-11-045873-2) |
| Vol. 1/4: | Anachronistic Reflections III: Schopenhauer as an Educator. IV: Richard Wagner in Bayreuth, with commentary by Barbara Neymeyr, published in 2020 (ISBN 978-3-11-067789-8) |
| Vol. 2/1: | *Human, All Too Human I*, with commentary by Andreas Urs Sommer, is expected to be published in 2024 |
| Vol. 2/2: | Human, All Too Human II: Miscellaneous Thoughts and Sayings, with commentary by Katharina Grätz, expected to be published in 2024 |
| Vol. 2/3: | Human, All Too Human II, The Wanderer and His Shadow, with commentary by Sebastian Kaufmann, not yet published |
| Vol. 3/1: | Morgenröthe, with commentary by Jochen Schmidt Idyllen aus Messina, with commentary by Sebastian Kaufmann, published in 2015 (ISBN 978-3-11-029327-2) |
| Vol. 3/2: | The Gay Science, with commentary by Sebastian Kaufmann, published in 2022 |
| Vol. 4/1: | Thus Spoke Zarathustra I and II, with commentary by Katharina Grätz, was published in 2024 |
| Vol. 4/2: | Thus Spoke Zarathustra III and IV, with commentary by Katharina Grätz, was published in 2023 |
| Vol. 5/1: | Beyond Good and Evil, with commentary by Andreas Urs Sommer, published in 2016 (ISBN 978-3-11-029307-4) |
| Vol. 5/2: | *The Genealogy of Morals*, with commentary by Andreas Urs Sommer, published in 2019 (ISBN 978-3-11-029308-1) |
| Vol. 6/1: | The Wagner Case: Twilight of the Idols, with commentary by Andreas Urs Sommer, published in 2012 (ISBN 978-3-11-028683-0) |
| Vol. 6/2: | The Antichrist. Ecce Homo. Dionysian Dithyrambs. Nietzsche versus Wagner, with commentary by Andreas Urs Sommer, published in 2013 (ISBN 978-3-11-029277-0) |
Reviews
- Cord-Friedrich Berghahn: Review of NK 6/1 and NK 6/2, in: Zeitschrift für Germanistik. New Series, Vol. 23 (3/2013), pp. 625 ff.
- Paul Bishop: Review of NK 1/1, 6/1, and 6/2, in: Journal of Nietzsche Studies 46 (1/2015), pp. 132–137.
- Till Kinzel: Review of NK 1/1, in: Information Resources for Libraries = IFB (PDF).
- Till Kinzel: Review of NK 1/3, in: IFB (PDF).
- Till Kinzel: Review of NK 6/1, in: IFB (PDF).
- Till Kinzel: Review of NK 6/2, in: IFB (PDF).
- Andreas R. Klose: Review of NK 6/2, in: literaturkritik.de (Oct. 2013) (external link).
- Ludger Lütkehaus: Collective review of NK 1/1, NK 6/1, and NK 6/2, in: Badische Zeitung (August 31, 2013) (external link).
- Christian Niemeyer: Review of NK 6/1, in: Nietzscheforschung 21 (2014), pp. 367–370.
- Christian Niemeyer: Review of NK 5/1, in: Philosophische Rundschau 64 (2017) (external link), pp. 241–258.
- Luis de Santiago: Review (in Spanish) of NK 6/1, in: El Caminante (May 11, 2013) (external link).
- Rainer Schäfer: Review of NK 1/1, in: Nietzsche-Studien 42 (2013), pp. 375–383.
- Hermann Josef Schmidt: Review of NK 1/1, in: f-nietzsche.de (PDF) (September 5, 2013). Abstracts in: Enlightenment and Criticism 20 (3/2013) (PDF) and Humanistischer Pressedienst = hpd (October 15, 2013) (external link).
- Hermann Josef Schmidt: Review of NK 1/2. Part I, in:f-nietzsche.de (2020). Abstract in:Aufklärung und Kritik (2/2021). Part II, in:f-nietzsche.de. Abstract in:Aufklärung und Kritik (4/2022).
- Herrmann Josef Schmidt: Review of NK 1/3, in:f-nietzsche.de (2016).
- Hermann Josef Schmidt: Review of NK 3/1. Part I, in: f-nietzsche.de (April 28, 2016) (PDF). Part II, in: f-nietzsche.de (June 18, 2016) (PDF). Summary of both parts in: hpd (June 22, 2016) (external link).
- Hermann Josef Schmidt: Review of NK 5/1,in: f-nietzsche.de.
- Hermann Josef Schmidt: Review of NK 5/2, in:f-nietzsche.de (2019). Abstracts in:Aufklärung und Kritik (4/2020)andhdp (July 20, 2020).
- Hermann Josef Schmidt: Review of NK 6/1 and NK 6/2, in: f-nietzsche.de (PDF). Abstracts in: Enlightenment and Criticism 21 (1/2014) (PDF) and hpd (March 18, 2014) (external link).
- Magnus Striet: Review, in: Theologische Revue 110 (2/2014), pp. 142–144.
- Jorge Luiz Viesensteiner / Antonio Edmilson Paschoal: Review of NK 6/2, in: Nietzsche-Studien 45 (2016), pp. 263–265.
Other books on Nietzsche
- Barbara Neymeyr and Andreas Urs Sommer (eds.): Nietzsche as a Philosopher of Modernity, Heidelberg 2012.
- Katharina Grätz and Sebastian Kaufmann (eds.): Nietzsche Between Philosophy and Literature: From *The Gay Science* to *Thus Spoke Zarathustra*, Heidelberg 2016.
- Jochen Schmidt: The Myth of the "Will to Power." Nietzsche’s Complete Works and the Nietzsche Cult. A Historical Critique, Berlin/Boston 2016.
- Andreas Urs Sommer: Nietzsche and the Consequences, Stuttgart 2017, 2nd expanded edition with an appendix: Fake Nietzsche. J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart 2019.
- Katharina Grätz and Sebastian Kaufmann (eds.): Nietzsche as a Poet: Poetry, Poetics, Reception, Berlin/Boston 2017 (Nietzsche Readings, Vol. 1).
- Sebastian Kaufmann, Andreas Urs Sommer (eds.): Nietzsche and the Conservative Revolution, Berlin/Boston 2018 (Nietzsche Readings, Vol. 2).
- Andreas Urs Sommer: What Remains of Nietzsche’s Philosophy?, Berlin 2018 (= Inaugural Lectures, Vol. 19).
- Ralph Häfner, Sebastian Kaufmann, Andreas Urs Sommer (eds.): Nietzsche’s Literatures, Berlin/Boston 2019 (Nietzsche Readings, Vol. 3).
- Hans-Peter Anschütz, Armin Thomas Müller, Mike Rottmann, Yannick Souladié (eds.): Nietzsche as a Reader, Berlin/Boston 2020 (Nietzsche Readings, Vol. 4) [forthcoming].
- Helmut Heit, Andreas Urs Sommer (eds.): Nietzsche and the Reformation, Berlin/Boston 2020 (Nietzsche Readings, Vol. 5) [forthcoming].
- Sebastian Kaufmann, Markus Winkler (eds.): Nietzsche, the “Barbaric” and “Race,” Berlin/Boston 2020 (Nietzsche Readings, Vol. 6) [forthcoming].
- Research Center portal on the Universityof Freiburgwebsite (external link)
- Watch us on YouTube(external link)
collaborations
- With the Équipe Nietzsche et son temps(external link) at the Institut des Textes et Manuscrits Modernes(external link) (ITEM): a collaborative project funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): Nietzsche’s Library. Digital Edition and Philosophical Commentary(external link).
- In collaboration with the International Nietzsche Research Group Stuttgart(external link) (INFG) at the Stuttgart Research Centre for Text Studies(external link) (SRCTS): Coordinated research
- In collaboration with the Klassik Stiftung Weimar(external link): Annual conferences for young scholars (2014–2015: Forum for Young Nietzsche Scholars; since 2016: Oßmannstedt Nietzsche Colloquium)
- With the Nietzsche International Lab(external link) (NIL): DAAD/FCT-funded binational research group project "Nietzsche's Critique of Values and its Reception"
address
Research Center "Nietzsche Commentary of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities" ( HAdW)
Department of German at the University of Freiburg
Platz der Universität 3 | 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau
Phone and Fax
Tel. +49 (0) 761/203 3239 and 203 3255
Fax +49 (0) 761/203 3253 and 203 3254
sebastian.kaufmann [at] hadw.de
Web editing of this project page
Prof. Dr. Andreas Urs Sommer(external link)