Bonn

Bonn enters Friedrich Nietzsche’s chronology as the university setting for his early studies in theology and philology. His time there was brief: in 1865, after abandoning theology and losing his Christian belief, he left for Leipzig, following his former philology tutor, Friedrich Ritschl.

University Setting

In 1864, Nietzsche entered the University of Bonn as a student of theology and philology. The chronology records Bonn through this academic appointment; it gives no further account of the city or of Nietzsche’s life there beyond his studies and departure.

Studies and Departure

The next year, Nietzsche gave up theology after losing his Christian belief. At Easter he left Bonn for Leipzig, where he followed Ritschl, his former tutor in philology, and began reading Arthur Schopenhauer. Bonn thus marks a short transition in his education: theological study gave way to a course that continued in Leipzig.

Place in Nietzsche’s Chronology

Bonn is significant in this account as the point of departure between Nietzsche’s enrollment in theology and philology and his subsequent move to Leipzig. The chronology links his leaving not simply to a change of university, but to the abandonment of theology and the continuation of philological study under Ritschl.