Friedrich Nietzsche spent 55 years on Earth before his existence was annihilated and his atoms returned to the universe. He challenged traditional morality and opened the door to a postmodern understanding. Today Nietzsche is most famous for declaring “God is dead,” but do you understand he was trying to provoke a wake-up call?
The mustachioed-musician-philosopher was a lover of life, his feared Nihilism was less about promoting a life devoid of meaning, and more about shattering illusions to build a more authentic existence.
He was born in 1844, on the 49th birthday of the Prussian King, after whom he was named. Five years later, his father dies from a brain ailment. This foreshadowed tough times for Friedrich at a similar age. As a young man, he immersed himself in the study of the great philosophers and philology—the study of language. At the age of 24, Nietzsche was appointed the professor of philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
To get a feel for his complex later years, let’s pick up in 1889. In January, Nietzsche broke down in what is now known as “The Umbrella Incident.” As he took one of his regular walks, a horse was being whipped by its driver, its eyes filled with a pain Friedrich could not bear. As a man who had long explored suffering, he dropped his umbrella and threw his arms around the horse. Some say this broke him because in his desire to live authentically in his Eternal Recurrence, he could not live in such a world.
As Nietzsche’s health failed, he was transferred to a clinic. Like his father, Nietzsche died of brain issues. He breathed his last on August 25, 1900. His umbrella incident from 11 years earlier remains a haunting episode in the annals of philosophy.