After a few years in the Naumburg school, where he distinguished
himself as a model student and incidentally impressed the visiting
inspectors by his quickness and brilliance in answering test
questions, Nietzsche took the entrance examinations for the
well-known Landes-Schule at Pforta, an institution then noted for
its fostering and promotion of scientific studies. The vacancy at
Pforta had been offered Nietzsche's mother by the Rector who had heard
rumours concerning the intellectual gifts of the young "Fritz." The
examinations were passed successfully, and in October, 1858, after a
tearful leave-taking, he entered the Lower Fourth Form. Pforta, at that
time, was an institution of considerable eminence, with a tradition
attaching to it not unlike that of Eton. It was a hot-bed of academic
culture, and the professors were among the most learned in the country.
The school had been founded as a monastery in the twelfth century by
the Cistercian monks. In the sixteenth century it had fallen under
the rule of the Duke Moritz of Saxony, who turned it into a secular
educational academy, making way for the advance of the newer ideals.
The life at Pforta in Nietzsche's day was strict, and we learn that
the young philosopher chafed somewhat under the stringent discipline.
But in time he accustomed himself to the regulations, and it was not
long before we find him actively and interestedly participating in
the school life. However, new ideas were fomenting. If outwardly he
acquiesced to the routine, inwardly he was in a state of revolt. He had
already begun to indulge in original thinking, and he felt the lack
of freedom in communicating his ideas to others. His only confidante
during these days was his sister whom he always saw during the holidays
and on brief leaves of absence. His spare moments were devoted to music
and literature other than that prescribed by the school curriculum.
He resented the fact that one had to think of particular themes
at specified times, and no doubt caused his good tutor, Professor
Buddensieg, much uneasiness, for, to judge from his diary, he did not
keep to himself the resentment he felt toward the enforcement of the
irksome and repressive calendar of studies.