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Friedrich Nietzsche.
From tinted photo taken by:
Grato Brunel (1840-1920).1
Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 1871.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Lugano, after March 22, 1871:
Letter to Franz Overbeck.

My dear friend and colleague, are you not wondering about the excess of my wretchedness in corresponding? Not to have written to you for so long! I wonder about it a lot! At least believe me how I have truly thought of you and how gratefully I have remembered the many instances of your compassionate sick care.1 Thanks to you, thanks to your fur coat, this time I got off unscathed — in every sense of the word.2 It was certainly high time; for it now seems to me, while reflecting about this January in Basel,3 as if I were walking around in a dream, in a constantly jittery nervous state, and in this state was certainly not very pleasant for you. And you put up with me then and went on walks with me etc. etc. As a reward for that you should be transported at once to this blue lake — only not today, for heaven's sake, with abominable North-German cloudy skies and fog heavy as fur! But maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow! Then together we could look for the first flowers of spring and they are perhaps just as surely to be found here as in Dresden, which I believe you are visiting for the holidays. If we could find a warm spot on the lake, then we could settle down there, among small snakes and lizards: although I think the land around Plauen4 can also provide these delights. If we wanted to be very courageous, we could even allow ourselves to be put on a boat and driven around on the lake, though not without footmuffs and with the likelihood of catching a cold.5 You will see that we also have a few North-German paroxysms6 here, perhaps more than in northern Switzerland, which has resulted in the establishment of "Germanophobia,"7 maybe even republican, to be achieved by a referendum, and in any case not by North-German weather conditions. Here they tend to favor Prussia: indeed we were recently allowed to celebrate, without a murder, Kaiser Wilhelm's birthday8 and staged a tableau "vivant" without fear of being shot. Yes there are harmless Germans here who even dare to play the zither, indeed you should even know that two, since yesterday 4, disguised Prussian officers are living here, who walk around the lake without any weapons and even pass the holidays without their uniform. All together a state of well-being is to be found in Lugano, which certainly exceeds the one in Basel and is perhaps exceeded only by the state of well-being in every German city, at least the one in Dresden. So it would be a poor reward if, from here to Dresden, an enchanting spell would be cast on you for your demonstrated benevolence to me: which is why I thought of expressing to you my gratitude in another way. Here is the first photograph of me that shows only to the slightest extent that I am getting better, but it just doesn't show the most important changes in the ganglionic and lymphatic system, since the coat covered those areas.

Your grateful friend,
comrade and colleague, indeed fellow human being
Friedr. Nietzsche

1. See GSA 101/12. Nietzsche with overcoat, hat, scarf, and gloves. There is little information on the location of Brunel's studio in Lugano, but it was probably situated on one of the lakeshore streets. The photo seen here is a 2000 modified version of the 1871 original: the coat has been lengthened, and the background extended.
2. In February, due to poor health, Nietzsche took a leave of absence for the rest of the semester, and went to Lugano along with his sister. This is the first letter Nietzsche wrote to Overbeck (they lived in the same boarding house in Basel). During his six-week stay in Lugano, Nietzsche worked on his manuscript "Ursprung und Ziel der Tragödie" (Origin and Goal of Tragedy), which he would later refashion into the Birth of Tragedy. Overbeck, on the other hand, spent time in Dresden visiting his family after the semester ended.
3. Nietzsche was suffering from a variety of ailments, including stomach and intestinal problems. Cf. Basel, 02-06-1871: Letter to Franziska and Elisabeth Nietzsche.
4. That is, when he started feeling ill.
5. A southwestern part of Dresden.
6. At the Hotel du Parc in Lugano, Nietzsche and his sister met Adolph von Moltke (the brother of Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke) who was staying there with his family. Moltke, while taking a boating trip around the lake, caught pneumonia and died on April 7.
7. See Tribschen, 04-02-1871 letter from Cosima Wagner to Nietzsche in Lugano.
8. March 22.

Cosima Wagner.
Ca. 1870-72.
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Tribschen, April 2, 1871:
Letter from Cosima Wagner.1

Most esteemed Herr Professor,

Kindest regards to your charming sister. Richter is staying with us; the theater director from Pest composes operas!13 That says it all, and R[ichard] doesn't belong there. We have played a lot of music for mother, "unknown music," and also a quartet.

1. Cosima Wagner destroyed all her correspondence from Nietzsche. However, we still have the following entries from her diary about Nietzsche at this time:

03-26-71	Brief von Pr. Nietzsche aus Lugano. (Letter from Pr[of]. Nietzsche in Lugano.)
04-03-71	Bei unsrem Frühstück meldet man uns plötzlich Pr. Nietzsche, welcher von Lugano ankommt und hier einige Tage zubringen wird. Er scheint sehr leidend. (At our breakfast Pr[of]. Nietzsche is suddenly announced, who comes from Lugano and will spend a few days here. He appears very run down.)
04-04-71	Schöner Aufsatz über den "Beethoven" in einer englischen Zeitung (Academy), der Verfasser ein deutscher (Franz Hüffer), Bekannter von Pr. Nietzsche, ein früherer Gegner R.'s. (Nice article on "Beethoven" in an English periodical (Academy), the author a German (Franz Hüffer), acquaintance of Pr[of]. Nietzsche, a former opponent of R.)
04-05-71	Pr. N. liest mir aus einer Arbeit vor (Ursprung und Ziel der gr. Tragödie), die er R. widmen will; große Freude daran; man sieht hier einen sehr begabten Menschen von R.'s Gedanken auf eigene Weise durchdrungen. (Pr[of]. N. reads to me from a work (Origin and Goal of Gr[eek] Tragedy) which he wants to dedicate to R.; great delight over that; in it one sees a gifted man imbued with R.'s ideas in his own way.)
04-08-71	Pr. Nietzsche verabschiedet sich, nachdem er die Kinder mit einer grünen Schlange beglückt hat. (Pr[of]. Nietzsche departs, after making the children happy with a green snake.)

2. Marie Catherine Sophie Gräfin d'Agoult (1805-1876): mistress of Franz Liszt, and Cosima Wagner's mother, who wrote works under the pseudonym Daniel Stern. See her ca. 1861 photo, and her entry in Nietzsche's Library.
3. The Franco-Prussian War began on July 19, 1870.
4. "die guten."
5. Opera by Richard Wagner. See Lohengrin, I, iii: "Mein Herr und Gott, nun ruf ich dich, ...."
6. The "Imperial March" composed to celebrate Prussia's victory and occupation of Paris. "Wagner finished the Orchestral Sketch of the Kaisermarsch on the 25th [of February 1871], and completed the full score on the 15th March [1871]." See Ernest Newmann, The Life of Richard Wagner. Vol. 4. 1866-1883. New York, Knopf, 1946: 279.
7. At the Hotel du Parc in Lugano, Nietzsche and his sister met Adolph von Moltke (the brother of Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke) who was staying there with his family. Moltke, while taking a boating trip around the lake, caught pneumonia and died on April 7.
8. Wagner's "Kaiserlied":

For the lyrics sung by the children, see Ernest Newmann, The Life of Richard Wagner. Vol. 4. 1866-1883. New York, Knopf, 1946: 276.
9. Alfred Escher (1819-1882), Swiss railway titan, politician and financier (founder of Credit Suisse). Johann Jakob Sulzer (1821-1897), Swiss politician (Sulzer took over the position of Cantonal Secretary from Escher) and financier (founder of UBS). An old friend and patron of Wagner from his time in Zurich, Sulzer was now the president of his native city of Winterthur. According to Cosima's diary entry for April 16, Sulzer explained that the events in Zurich were the result of "Germanophobia." See the details about the so-called Music Hall Riot in The New York Times report of March 12, 1871; and the more recent November 26, 2013 article in the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich. Read the original "invitation" that sparked the entire ordeal. Sulzer appeared before the Cantonal Council on March 14 and spoke about Germanophobia being the possible cause of the riot. Escher dismissed the claim as "groundless and irrational" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 21. März 1871).
10. Über die Bestimmung der Oper (On the Destiny of Opera), a lecture delivered on April 28, 1871 to the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin.
11. Ottilie Brockhaus, wife of Professor Hermann Brockhaus, was Richard Wagner's sister. Nietzsche had sponsored their son and Wagner's nephew, Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus (1838-1895), for a position at Basel University. At the time, he was a law professor at the University of Jena. See Cosima's diary entry for 01-03-71: "Brief an Pr. Nietzsche, welcher die Berufung unsres Neffen Fritz Brockhaus nach Basel erwirkt hat." (Letter to Pr[of]. Nietzsche, who has been instrumental in getting our nephew Fritz Brockhaus called to Basel.)
12. See Note 1.
13. Hans Richter (1843-1916) was the principal conductor of the Budapest National Theater from 1871-1875.

Erwin Rohde, Carl von Gersdorff, Friedrich Nietzsche.
From tinted photo by the business: "Victoria Karte."
Leipzig, October 1871.
Reproduced by Ferdinand Henning, Naumburg.¹
Colorized and enhanced image ©The Nietzsche Channel.

Naumburg, October 20, 1871:
Letter to Erwin Rohde.

My dear friend,

Today I send you just a few remarks2 on the companions in the [Leipzig Trade] Fair photograph, which, to my delight, Henning delivered the day before yesterday. Aforesaid photographer still wants 1 thaler from us, which for each of us still comes to the amount of 10 srg. In the meantime, I have paid it. In this photograph we stand a bit out of place, and I, in particular, "hideously hunched" with a stupified look, which speaks to the utter stupidity of the Fair along with its spirits.3 At any rate — senza frivolita4 — we were still the happiest Fair Jews5 in Leipzig, for we might have dished out the roles from Lumpacivagabundus6 among us, for which I lay claim to the shoemaker part, due to delirium tremens clemens demens.7

In the meantime, the lost "Faust" has now been found by me and Gustav Krug back on the Knabenberg, at a spot where Gersdorff had rested: which I call a splendid omen.8 The first part that I opened to in the book was: Altmayer: "Now try and tell me not to believe in miracles!"9 Thus I was vividly reminded of our Fair miracle and the Advent miracle of our life in Leipzig.

"My! Should the wine still be flowing?"10

I almost believe, my dear friend, that our ghostly apparition in Leipzig was no sleight of hand.11 We were there and will be there:12 how the Jew, in the words of Jehovah, would express it. Lord, remember the red room!13

May Saint Pythagoras bless you, Saint Frit[z]sch bless me, and the thing-in-itself bless all of us!14

I return to Basel tomorrow, drawing myself up from the table of my holiday delights like a sated reveler. I have never spent such a festive and exuberant time and I know I have my friends to thank for it. But even more, all the demons to which we in one future hour will bring an offering of thanks: by means of which we will also brilliantly confirm the ideality of space and time.15 Next Monday evening at 10 o'clock, each of us will raise a glass of dark red wine and pour half of it into the black night, with the words ,16 and drink the other half. Probatum est. Gesegn' es Samiel! Uhu!17 — I notified Gersdorff.18

Thanks, my dear dear friend!

FN.

1. From Oct. 12-14, the three friends spent time in Leipzig, and attended the Leipzig Trade Fair; on the 15th, they celebrated Nietzsche's 27th birthday in Naumburg, where Henning reproduced this photograph. It was then reproduced ca. 1912 by Louis Held (1851-1927) in Weimar. See GSA 101/41. Carl Ferdinand Henning (1832-?): German portraitist and photographer with a studio at Topfmarkt 14, Naumburg. Henning took 5 photographs of Nietzsche from 1862-1868, and also reproduced two photos: this photo taken at the 1871 Leipzig Trade Fair, depicting Erwin Rohde, Carl von Gersdorff, and Nietzsche; and a photo taken in Basel in 1871 by Friedrich Hermann Hartmann. In 1862, Henning took three photos of Nietzsche. Nietzsche then ordered 2 sets of the three photos, making six in total. The Nietzsche Channel owns one of the 1862 photos (another copy is at GSA 101/3).
2. The following was written on the back of the photo: "Zur Erinnerung an 3 glückliche Tage, verlebt in Leipzig am 12t., 13t., und 14t. October 1871, wurde dieses Conterfei in einer Meßbude begonnen und in Naumburg a./S. vollendet. Dr. Friedrich Nietzsche. ordentl. Professor der class. Philologie and der Universität Basel (Prophete rechts); Dr. Erwin Rohde, Privatdocent der class. Philologie and der Universität Kiel (Prophete links); Carl von Gersdorff, Kammer Gerichts Referendarius (das Weltkind in der Mitten)." (To commemorate 3 happy days spent in Leipzig on the 12th, 13th, and 14th October 1871, this likeness was begun in a fair booth [Meßbude] and completed in Naumburg o[n] t[he] S[aale]. Dr. Friedrich Nietzsche, Professor Ord[inarius] of Class[ical] Philology at the University of Basel (prophet on the right); Dr. Erwin Rohde, Lecturer of Class[ical] Philology at the University of Kiel (prophet on the left); Carl von Gersdorff, Cameral Tribunal Referendary [i.e., an attorney] (the child of the world in the middle).)
3. Leipzig's large commercial fair was rife with, among other things, radicals, con artists, spiritualists, and booze.
4. "In a frivolous sense."
5. Meßjude: a pun on Meßbude (see Note 2). Jews had participated in the Leipzig Trade Fair since 1598, while being subjected to various indignities levied upon them, as opposed to the fairs in Frankfurt, which treated them as equals. Once freedom of domicile was granted to all Prussian citizens in 1812, Jewish immigration to cities increased dramatically. See Michael A. Meyer, Michael Brenner, German-Jewish History in Modern Times. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1996-98. 1:133-34; 2:23-28.
6. Der böse Geist Lumpazivagabundus oder Das liederliche Kleeblatt (The Evil Spirit Lumpazivagabundus, or the Dissolute Trio), is a farce by Johann Nestroy about three vagabonds.
7. Delirium tremens clemens demens: DTs and mild dementia (from which Knieriem, the chronic drunk shoemaker in Nestroy's play, suffers).
8. Carl von Gersdorff's copy of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust.
9. Cf. Goethe, Faust, 1:2336: "ALTMAYER. Nun sag' mir eins, man soll kein Wunder glauben!"
10. Ibid., 1:2332: "[ALTMAYER.] "Mein! Sollte wohl der Wein noch fließen?"
11. Leipzig at the time was a hotbed of spiritualism.
12. Cf. Exodus 3:14: "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am. [Alternatively: 'I will be what I will be.'] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I am has sent me to you.'"
13. Probably alluding to a place they visited while in Leipzig, perhaps a tavern.
14. The Pythagoras reference alludes to the first part of Rohde's "Die Quellen des Iamblichus in seiner Biographie des Pythagoras (The Sources of Iamblichus in his Biography of Pythagoras)." In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. N.F. Bd. 26 (1871), 554-576. The one to Fritzsch is regarding Ernst Wilhelm Fritzsch, to whom Nietzsche gave his manuscript of The Birth of Tragedy for publication. As for the allusion to the Kantian "thing-in-itself (Ding an sich)," Rohde's birthday present to Nietzsche was a small box with a humorous poem inside about his search for a suitable gift. The poem concludes with the lines: "'Nun rath,' o Fritze, kennst Du mich?' / (An dieser Stelle öffnet sich das Kästchen und ein Teufel schnellt empor mit einem Zettel in der Hand): / Es gratulirt 'das Ding an sich'!" ("Now, guess, O Fritze, do you know me?" / (At this point the box opens and a demon pops up with a note in its hand): / Wishing you 'the thing-in-itself'!")
15. Another allusion to the transcendental idealism of Kant.
16. "Khairete diamones!" (Hail, demons!) See 18. below.
17. "It's approved." "Bless it, Satan! Eagle owl!" Cf. Carl Maria von Weber, Der Freischütz, 2, vi.
18. Rohde and Gersdorff complied with Nietzsche's wishes, and at the appointed hour made the "offering" to the "demons" that had been watching over them during their celebratory reunion. Nietzsche did the same, at the home of Jacob Burckhardt, who joined in.