Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900; Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 -- Criticism and interpretation; Philosophy
Soon after the family's arrival at Naumburg, Friedrich, then only six
years old, was sent to a local Municipal Boys' School, in accordance
with the educational theories of his grandmother, who believed in
gregarious education for the very young. But she had failed to count
upon the unusual character of her grandson, and the attempt to educate
him at a municipal institution resulted in failure. His upbringing had
made him somewhat priggish and hypersensitive. He was ridiculed by the
other boys who taunted him with the epithet of "the little minister."
He refused to mingle with the riff-raff which composed the larger part
of the pupils, and held himself isolated and aloof. Consequently,
before the year was up, he was withdrawn from the school and entered in
a private educational institution which prepared the younger students
for the Cathedral Grammar School. Here he was in more congenial
surroundings. He had for schoolmates two youths whose families were
friends of the Nietzsche household--young Wilhelm Pinder and Gustav
Krug, who later were to influence his youth. Nietzsche remained at this
school for three years.
As a boy Nietzsche was always thoughtful and studious. He was a
taciturn child and took long walks in the country alone, preferring
solitude to companionship. He was sensitive to a marked degree,
polite, solicitous of all about him, and inclined to moodiness. As
soon as he could write he started a diary in which he included not
only the external events of his life but his thoughts and ideas and
opinions. The pages of this diary, partially preserved, make unique
and interesting reading. At a very early age he began writing poetry.
His verses, though conventional in both theme and metre, reflected a
knowledge of contemporary prosody unusual in a boy of his years. He had
ample opportunity in his home of hearing good music, and he manifested
a great love for it in very early youth. He devoted much time to
studying the piano, and not infrequently tried his hand at composing.
Later in his life we still find him writing music, and also publishing
it. In deportment Nietzsche was a model child. He was thoroughly
imbued with the religious atmosphere of his surroundings, and was
far more pious than the average youth of his own age. For a long
while he gave every indication of fulfilling the ecclesiastical hopes
which his family harboured for him. Consequently there was no lack of
encouragement on the part of his guardians toward his first literary
efforts which reflected the piety of his nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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