Chronicle of Nietzsche 's Life 3621875
N.'s reaction to a Dürer engraving he receives as a gift: "I rarely enjoy
pictorial representations, but I feel a real affinity with Knight with Death
andDeviL I can hardly express how powerful this affinity is" (March).April: N.'s sister comes to Basel to live with him. Franz Overbeck
vacates the neighboring apartment (known as Baumann's Cave). N.
plans fifty essays in the style of the Untimely Meditations, but his work on
the essays on Wagner and philology does not progress. "Horror of pub-
lishing" (September 26). To Rohde: 'Tf the time should come that we
are together for an extended period and find that our lives become
entwined, I should wish to tell you that everything is a real part of our
lives and therefore difficult for me to shake off" (October 7). Makes the
acquaintance of Köselitz (October 25). Christmas and New Year's in
Basel. Quite ill.
1876
To Gersdorff: "My father died of an inflammation of the brain at age
thirty-six. It is possible that it will happen to me even faster" (January
18). Strikes up a friendship with Paul Rèe (February). Precipitate and
unsuccessful proposal of marriage to Mathilde Trampedach (April). Ν.
draws strength from reading the memoirs of Malwida von Meysenbug.
To Heinrich Romundt "Now that I am back to my old self, I respect...
moral liberation and insubordination and hate everything that makes us
worn down and skeptical" (April). Peter Gast (= Köselitz) encourages
him to finish his essay on Wagner. N. applies for a leave of absence
(May). It is granted as of the fall 1876 semester.July 23: N. in Bayreuth for the first festival. 111. Leaves for Klingenbrunn
during the rehearsals. Returns for the performances. Disappointment
with the audience and Wagner's lack of attention to him. Makes his mind
up to break with Wagner, who is enthusiastic about the fourth Untimely
Meditation.