Friedrich Nietzsche Nietzsche can be considered by many one of the top philosophers of the new millennium. His harsh life of solitude, denial, and rejection led to him focusing exclusively on the development of his philosophy. He is also the father of the ideas of existentialism, a philosophical current that became especially popular after his death. He rejects the ideas of a god and triggers controversy towards the origins of human knowledge. Friedrich Nietzsche was born in the German town of Röcken bei Lützen located southwest Germany, near the city of Leipzbig, on October 15, 1844. He was named after the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV, whose birthday was on the same date of Nietzsche's birth. His father, Karl Ludwig Nietzsche, a protestant minister died of a brain disease when …show more content…
From the ages 14 to nineteen Nietzsche studied in a high quality boarding school called Schulpforta not far from his home in Namburg. It was this school that prepared him for his later rigorous years at university. During his vacation months in summer Nietzsche led a study group that focused on music and literature. It was then that he became highly involved in the musical pieces by Richard Wagner, admiring his work profoundly, not knowing the compositor would later become one of his closest friends. After graduating from school, Nietzsche studied theology and philology at the university of Bonn. He later on focused more on philology, the study of ancient biblical texts, than any of his other studies. Inspired by Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl who taught literature from the classical civilizations and whose work focused on the study of the roman poet Plautus, he transferred to the University of Leipzig. He gained fame and respect for his written