AUERBACH AND NIETZSCHE I It would seem at firstthat the lifeand worksof BertholdAuerbach would offernothingbut contrastsand dissimilaritiesto those of FriedrichNietzsche. The former,as nearlydevoid of pride and envy as it is possiblefora human beingto be, in love withmankind and always surrounded by friends,1constantly associating with people of substantialrenown,decorated with various orderswhich he held in lightesteem,2influencedin his earlydays by Spinoza,Jean Paul, and Walter Scott, is knowntoday primarilyas the portrayer ofloquacious Germanvillagers. The latter,a stoic3afterthe fashion of Heraclitus,arrogantlyproclaiminghimselfthe greatestof modern writersand envious of anyone who also gained distinction,avoided by the spiritualgrandeesof his day, includingWagneraftera while, the recipientof no coveted badges of honor,influencedin his early days by the Greeks,Schopenhauer,and Wagner,is knowntoday as the author of many letters,a few poems,some essays and lectures, and severalthousandaphorismsthat refutecurrentopinion,set men to thinking,and arouse about as much antagonismas admiration. Auerbachwas alwayspedagogical,had unlimitedfaithin America, lived remotefromthe Romance peoples, greatlyadmiredGermany and the Germans,was patientwithPrussia, thoughhe dislikedBismarck,took an interestin manythings,and always wantedto learn. Nietzsche loathed pedagogyand the books writtenon it, despised I Some of Auerbach's best-known friendswere Du Bois-Reymond, George Bancroft, Theodor Mommsen, Spielhagen, D. Fr. Strauss, Uhland, Rlickert, Otto Ludwig, Ernst Rietschel, Jakob Grimm, and M6rike. To judge indeed from his letters, he was at least personally acquainted with all of the prominent men of his day. Nietzsche's best friends were Erwin Rohde, Peter Gast, Heinrich Stein, and Carl Fuchs; and only these. And who were these men ? We are obliged to turn to an encyclopedia to answer the question. Overbeck's friendship for Nietzsche has often been questioned. 2 Cf. Georg Brandes, BertholdAuerbach (Miinchen, 1902), p. 108; and in Auerbach's Briefe an Jakob Auerbach, January 7, 1862, Auerbach tells how the order he had just received from the Duke of Coburg-Gotha embarrassed him. 3 For one of Nietzsche's significant remarks concerning stoicism, see Morgenr6the, IV, 143, of the Naumann edition (Leipzig). This edition is always referred to in this paper. 603]

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Americaas fewEuropeanshave, felthimselfat one withthe Romance peoples,spoke even moreharshlyof Germanthan did his prototype H6lderlin,could not endure Prussia, thoughhe reservedlyadmired Bismarckas the type of a strongGerman,confinedhis interestsafter all withina narrowcircle,and aboundedin self-sufficiency ofopinion. Auerbach was gentle and restful,sympatheticand trustful; Nietzschedistrustednearlyeverything, especiallymoderneducation and German civilization,and preached the doctrineof force and pitilessness. The one made journeysto the Black Forest so that he mightreturnto his work refreshed,the other to the Engadine so as to be out of the sightof men. True, they both admiredGoethe and hated Gutzkow,suffered froma commonlack of humor,studied firsttheologyand thenphilosophy,longedfordisciples,defendedthe Jews,and foundan ardentadvocate in Georg Brandes. But these are minormatters. As a writer,Auerbach, despite his localized Dorfgeschichten, moved by choice in accustomed grooves; Nietzsche aspired to be the transvaluatorof all values. This is one reason why the former has been studied too little,the latter too much. And now, after extensivereadingin both, it seems to the writerthat thereare at least five phases of Auerbach's worksthe exhaustivetreatmentof whichwould be productiveof lastingresults: (1) his stylewithespecial referenceto his vocabulary; (2) his conceptionof Americaas coloredby his interestin emigratingGermans; (3) his pedagogical ideas as a student of Rousseau; (4) his indebtednessto Spinoza; (5) his influenceon Nietzsche. Let us considerthis last topic in its more general aspects and with especial referenceto Auf der Hohe and Also sprachZarathustra. Auerbachwas born in 1812,and died twentydays beforereaching his seventiethbirthdayin 1882, the year of the completion of Nietzsche's FrahlicheWissenschaft, and only seven years before his mentalcollapse. Nietzschewas thenbut littleknownin Europe. It was, indeed, not until 1886 that Georg Brandes delivered his series of lectureson him at the Universityof Copenhagen,an act of appreciationforwhichNietzsche was devoutlygrateful. It was the firstattemptto make propagandaforhimoutsideofthe Romance countries,and verylittlehad thenbeen made even there. Auerbach 604

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seems never to have read him. There is not a single referenceto Nietzsche in any accessible material on or by Auerbach.' This means nothing,however,forNietzsche was hardlyknownat all in Germanyin 1882. Richard M. Meyer claims2to have been one of the firstto lectureon him-in 1902. And Nietzschereferredto Auerbachbut threetimes. The first of these was in a letter3to his mother,writtenin February,1862, while he was a student at Pforta. Nietzsche was then seventeen years old. It is a delightfulnote concerninghis sister Elisabeth, who was thenin a pensionin Dresden,and his own affairsat Pforta, with an occasional sententiousobservationpropheticof the future Nietzsche. And then, after finishingthe letter,he appended the following:"Zum Lesen, woftirDu nun viel Zeit haben wirst,schlage ich Dir Auerbach'sBarfiisselevor, was michhoch entziickthat." That Nietzschelikedthis storyis at once surprisingand natural. In it we are told of the barefootedAmreiand her somewhatstupid brotherDami. They are orphans. The brothercomes to America and thenreturnsto Germany. Unpromisingat first,he makes good partlythroughthe assistanceof his sister. AmreimarriesJohannes and all ends well. It is a charmingstoryfor an imaginativeboy. We can easily see how the romanticdescriptionsofnature,the interpolated fairytales, and the riddlesmighthave pleased the juvenile Nietzsche,whom his schoolmateshad not even then ceased calling "der kleine Pastor," though it sounds but little like the ferocious Nietzscheof about 1880. But Auerbach struck three notes in this story which accord beautifullywithwhat mightbe called Nietzsche'sthreemajor tones: the stupidityof the herd,the virtueof being alone, and the vice of conventionality. These are, to be sure,wornthemes,but thereis a directnessabout Auerbach'scommitments that sounds Nietzschean. Of the herd Auerbach says (IX, 50): "Die Tiere, die in Herden leben, sind alle Jedes ffirsich allein dumm." He very frequently 1 Cf. Berthold Auerbach. Briefe an seinen Freund Jakob Auerbach, edited by Fr. Spielhagen, Frankfurt a.M., 1884. There are two large volumes covering the period from 1830 to Auerbach's death. 2 Cf. Richard M. Meyer, Nietzsche. Sein Leben und seine Werke(Miinchen, 1913), p. 4. 3 Cf. Friedrich Nietz8ches gesammelteBriefe, edited by Elisabeth F6rster-Nietzsche (Leipzig, 1909), V, 21.

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comparedmen withanimalsand occasionallyto the advantage ofthe animals. Nietzsche did the same. As to being alone, also an exceedinglycommontopicwithAuerbach,he says (IX, 76): "Allein, o wie gut ist Allein. Jeder kann sich Alles selber machen . aber nur unter einem Beding: er muss allein bleiben. Allein. Allein. Sonst hilft'snichts." There is no one theme upon which Auerbachwrotemorethan on this one, and Nietzschelikewise. The most strikingparallel to Nietzsche, however,is found in Auerbach'sremarksconcerningconventionand morality. The passage reads as follows(IX, 264): "Nicht die Sittlichkeitregiertdie Welt, sonderneine verhirteteForm derselben: die Sitte. Wie die Welt nun einmal gewordenist, verzeiht sie eher eine Verletzung der Sittlichkeitals eine Verletzungder Sitte. Wohl den Zeiten und den Valkern,in denenSitte und SittlichkeitnochEins ist. Aller Kampf, der sich im Grossenwie im Kleinen,im Allgemeinenwie im Einzelnenabspielt,drehtsich darum,den WiderspruchdieserBeiden wiederaufzuheben,und die erstarrteForm der Sitte wiederftirdie innere Sittlichkeitftiissigzu machen, das Gepriigtenach seinem innernWertgehalteneu zu bestimmen." In otherwords,Auerbach is muchmoreimportantthan custom says that morality(Sittlichkeit) (Sitte), that the world,however,will pardon a breach of morality more quicklythan it will pardon a breach of custom,and that it is necessaryto give a new meaningto that whichhas become fixedby usage-to transvaluateold values.' It is not necessaryto list all of the passages in whichNietzsche discussed Sitte and Sittlichkeit.The most strikingones are found in Morgenr6the(V, 15-28), Menschliches,Allzumenschliches(II, 97-99), Zur Genealogieder Moral (VII, 345, 422). His idea was preciselythe same as Auerbach's: to be conventionalis to be sittlich; to be originalis to be unsittlich. He said (IV, 18) that to the valiant old Roman, Christwas b6sebecause he looked afterhis own salvation. In the same connectionNietzsche said: "Unter der Herrschaftder Sittlichkeitder Sitte hat die Originalitatjeder Art I The entire situation here is truly Nietzschean. Johannes' conduct was considered by the Pfarrer to be moral, but "aus der Ordnung; es hatte seinen besonderen Weg von der Landstrasse ab." Auerbach is gentler than Nietzsche but like him when he " Wenn says: heutigen Tages ein Prophet aufsttiinde,miisste er vorher sein Staatsexamen machen, ob's auch in der alten Ordnung ist, was er will." See p. 265. (All of the references are to the Cotta edition of Auerbach's works.)

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ein bdses Gewissen bekommen." And "Die Sittlichkeitwirktder Entstehung neuer und besserer Sitten entgegen: sie verdummt." What worriedboth Auerbach and Nietzsche, though neitherever said so in so manywords,was the factthat,etymologically speaking, moralcomesfroman oblique case ofLatin mos. And whenNietzsche proclaimedhimselfthe firmimmoralisthe meant only that his conscience would not allow him to pay homage to petrifiedconventionality. The idea was first expressed,however,in a book by Auerbachwhich Nietzsche read and enjoyed. And Auerbachtoo, returnedto the same idea many times. Like Nietzsche,he was a greatrepeater. to Auerbachwas made tenyearslater,in 1872, The nextreference in the secondlecture" Uber die ZukunftunsererBildungs-Anstalten" (IX, 262). It is here that Nietzscheraised the question "ob Auerbach und Gutzkow wirklichDichter sind: man kann sie einfach vor Ekel nicht mehrlesen, damit ist die Frage entschieden." The German Gymnasiumhas rarelyreceiveda more trenchantcriticism than Nietzsche gave it in this lecture. A plea is made fora more rationalstudy of German,fora betterstyle. Auerbachwas at the heightof his fame at the time of its delivery. Auf der Hbhe had appeared in 1865, Das Landhaus am Rhein in 1868, Wieder Unser in 1871,Zur gutenStundein 1872. The thirdand last referenceto Auerbachwas made in 1873, in that part of the Unzeitgemdsse Betrachtungen (I, 253) which deals with D. Fr. Strauss. It is again a question of Auerbach's style. Nietzsche says: "Ich erinneremich, einen Aufrufvon Berthold Auerbach 'an das deutsche Volk' gelesen zu haben, in dem jede Wendung undeutsch verschrobenund erlogen war, und der als Ganzes einem seelenlosenW6rtermosaikmit internationaler Syntax glich." The workin questionwas unobtainable. II It is not the purposeof this paper to defendAuerbach'sstylein the face of Nietzsche's attacks, thoughgreat criticshave defended the former'smethod of writing. Eugen Zabel praised Auerbach's styleand emphasizedits "gesunde, plastischeKraft."' Rudolfvon 1 Cf. BertholdAuerbach. Ein Gedenkblatt(Berlin, 1882), p. 91.

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Gottschall,though he condemned the style of Waldfried(1874), said of Auerbach's works in general: "Sein Stil ist freivon jeder Uberschwenglichkeit, gemessen und gediegen . . . . von plastischer

Rundung und gesunderTiichtigkeit,klar und miihelos."I It is our purposeat this pointto comparethe styleof Auerbachwiththat of Nietzschefromthe point of view of unusual words and alliterative and assonantal couplets. Auerbach used a great numberof uncommonexpressions. He liked to coin words. Richard M. Meyer says (Ges. d. deut. Lit. im 19. Jahr.,p. 250) that he would coin a happy term and then say to his friends: "Ich schenke es Ihnen." Some of his more " zuderstrikingexpressionsare: "Die S6hnerin" (Schwiegertochter), " Weltbegliickereien," handig," "verkindelt," "gesprachsam," "Die Niederbediensteten,""licherig," "Lordsgott," "Mitfreude" (which Auerbach used in his translation of Spinoza and which Nietzsche used so frequently),"Erbweisheit," "Nebenauskind," "Die Weisung," "Katzenhimmelmaiuselesangst,""Helfsucht" (which Auerbach hated as much as Nietzsche hated altruism), "bedenksam," "Biderwitwe" (in the sense of a "college widow"), "Schlafm6rder," "Preussenspeichler," "vorgeboren," "wunderig," "Hochpunkt," "Gedankenaar," "glanzig," "leidmiithig," "Die Meisterlichsten" (for Die Besten), "Goethereif" (coined by Auerbach), "Tabled'hotenkopf, "anfechtig," "Kleinresidenzlinge," "besitzstolz," and so on. Compounds of iiber2 occur in great numbers: "iibergenug," "iiberirdisch,""iiberweltlich," "Uberwelt," "Ubersinn," "iiberzwerch," "iiberhirnt,"and "iibernachtig" (a commonterm with Nietzsche). And then such Gedanken," "krankenwirterisches expressionsas "feuergefahrliche "einem in die Duznihe riicken" "blickloser Blick," Nachgehen," der "Pathos Nietzsche's Distanz"), "jenseits der Menschheit," (cf. "Spielmarken-Phrasen,""Sprach-Rabatt," "Sprachgarderobe." Auerbachseems neverto have used the term, As to Ubermensch, of In Rudolph fond its converse,untermenschlich. was he though

1 Cf. Deutsche Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts,p. 250. 2 Cf. R. M. Meyer (p. 453): "Insofern denn ist der 'tfbermensch' nur eine Fortsetzung anderer, bei Nietzsche (und teilweise schon vor ihm) nachzuweisender 't berbil'das tfbertier,''tiberhell,' 'das tfbernationale,' dungen': 'iiberhistorisch,' 'iiberpersonlich,' Meyer does not, of course, mean that these are all of 'tiberdeutsch,' 'iiberklimatisch."' the compounds found in Nietzsche; our point is that Auerbach's list is very long.

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und Elisabetha (XIX, 67-68) he wrote: "Dieses Bettinisiren,wie ich es nennenm6chte,ist nicht,wie Sie es bezeichnen,fibermenschlich, sondern-wenn man so sagen kann-untermenschlich." He he said (III, was, in short,interestedin words. Of naturwiichsig warum du nicht schines sagst Wort; naturwuchsig 147): "Ein oder naturwachsig." In his essay on the Goethe-Schillermonumentin Weimarhe commentson the beauty and fitnessof selbander. In his criticismof Emilia Galottihe refersto the fact that the vocalization of Marinelliand Machiavelli are the same. In Auf derH0he he blessesthe Germanlanguagebecause it containsthe wordMutterseelenallein. In Waldfriedhe emphasizesthe importanceof the fact that "Bismarck" is pronouncedalike in all languages. And in the same work he wrote: "Annette begriffjetzt, wie man in solcher Einsamkeit sich getreu und fest im geistigenLeben erhaltenund weiter bilden konnte und war gliicklich,wenn sie fUireine neue Anschauung ein Wort gefundenhatte. Sie sagte mir: 'Wie es Einsiedlerder Religiongiebt,so kann es auch Einsiedlerder Bildung geben,die sich zum Hdchstenbringen.'" We are remindedat once, in an indirectway, of Nietzsche'sBildungsphilister. But one of the most strikingsimilaritiesbetweenthe two is seen in theiruse of the word Kinderlandin contradistinction to Vaterland. In Schatzkdistlein des Gevattersmanns Auerbach wrote: (p. 57.) "Deutschland unser Vaterland, Amerika unser Kinderland. Die da aufgewachsensind in Deutschland findenselten ihr wahresund volles Gedeihenin der neuen Welt; es sind Wurzelnder Erinnerung ausgerissen und abgehackt, an denen man alle Zeit krankt, die Kinder aber gedeihenin der neuen Heimat, sie findeneine solchein ihr. Fahr wohl,o Vaterland,nimmuns auf, o Kinderland!" The it meaningof the passage is clear and though seeminglydifferent bears a close resemblance to Nietzsche's use of the term in yet Zarathustra. Nietzsche wrote (VI, 177, 297, 311): "So liebe ich allein noch meiner Kinder Land, das unentdeckte,im fernsten Meere." And: "Eurer Kinder Land sollt ihr lieben: diese Liebe sei euer neuer Adel." Nietzsche's meaning is likewise clear. He uses the genitive,not the nominative,case of the possessivepronoun. He had in mindthe Germanyofthe future,the Germanyof the children of the presentgeneration,the Germanythat mightsome time 609

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come to pass if the aristocracyof the presentwerealert,iftherewere a sufficient numberof men strivingto be supermen. Auerbachand Nietzschebothlikedto coinwords. RichardM. Meyersaid (p. 692): "Ein Wdrterbuchzu Nietzsche hoffeich in nicht zu langer Zeit zu verbffentlichen." But Auerbachand Nietzsche were mostalike in theiruse of assonantal and alliterative couplets. Auerbach's writingsteem with such pairs as: Heerkuh-Herzkuh, zaudern-zdgern, glitzert-glimmert, ziehen-zerren,Ergriinder-Verkiinder, Gehalt-Gestalt,WeltschmerzWeltscherz, alt-kalt, schwimmen-schweben,Reu-Treu, grauEinsamkeitgrauenhaft, vorderhand-nachderhand, einsam-arbeitsam, Gemeinsamkeit,aufldsen-erldsen, Unabhdingigkeit-Unanhinglichkeit. In Zarathustrawe find such couplets as Einsiedler-Zweisiedler, umlernen-umlehren, achten-verachten,Schwirze-Schwere, HoheHelle, Wohltat-Wehtat,glimmt-glfiht, Nichstenliebe-Fernstenliebe, lasen-erl6sen,Neidbolde-Leidholde. There verwinden-tiberwinden, is, to be sure, a fundamentaldifferencebetween the two. Nietzsche's' are bolder,moreparadoxical,moreoriginal. But it is only a shortstep fromthe one typeto the other. III The main purpose of this paper, however,is to point out some similaritiesbetweenAuerbach'sAuf derHihe (1865) and Nietzsche's Also sprachZarathustra(1885) by way of attemptingto prove that the lattercontainsechoes of the former. Let us list firsta number of expressionscommonto both, takingthose fromAuerbachin the orderin whichthey occur,and placingthose fromNietzscheimmediately after. The passages fromAuerbachare all foundin Irma's diary,Book VII, exceptthe firstone. Auerbach:Ein Gedanke,ein Blitz,ein sinnverwirrender, zucktedurch Lohe und EisesihreSeele: Das ist der Kuss der Ewigkeit! Flammende sichzusammen.Das istderKuss derEwigkeit!2 starren draingen Nietzsche:Doch alle LustwillEwigkeit.

' Richard M. Meyer contends (p. 417) that Nietzsche did not coin as many words in Zarathustra as in some of his other works, though he gives Nietzsche credit for gleichwachsig and totschweigsam. We have already commented on Auerbach's remark on the affixwiichs,and words ending in sam are of frequent occurrence in his works. He uses, for example, mitteilsamin many places. 2 Cf. Book V, chap. viii. "Das ist der Kuss der Ewigkeit" is the psychological turning-point of Auerbach's novel. It would not be so striking were it not written in the same meter, and were it not repeated so often,just as in Nietzsche's Zarathustra in the last two chapters of the third book.

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Auerbach: Am Ufer geschleudert-was soll ich nun? Blos leben, weil ich nichttot bin? Tagelang, Nichtelang hielt mich diese Ritselfragewie in der Schwebe zwischen Himmel und Erde, wie in jener grauenhaften Minute, da ich vom Felsen niederglitt.1 Nietzsche: Das aber glauben alle Dichter: dass wer im Grase oder an einsamenGehingenliegenddie Ohrenspitze,etwas von den Dingen erfahre, die zwischenHimmelund Erde sind. Auerbach: Ich habe keinen Spiegel in meinemZimmer,ich habe mir vorgesetzt,mich selbst nichtmehrzu sehen.2 Nietzsche:Aberals ich in den Spiegel schaute,da schrieich auf,und mein Herz war erschiittert, denn nichtmich sahe ich darin,sonderneines Teufels Fratze und Hohnlachen. Auerbach: Ich muss noch tdiglichdie Morgenschwerefiberwinden.Am Abend bin ich ruhig-ich bin muide. Nietzsche:Zehn Mal musst du des Tages dich selberUiberwinden:das macht eine gute Miidigkeitund ist Mohn der Seele. Auerbach: Einsam und arbeitsam,das ist mein Alles. Nietzsche:Trachte ich denn nach Glicke ? Ich trachtenach meinem Werke. Auerbach: Die Wolkenbildungen und ihreFarben,die ich sonstnurhoch am Himmelsah, sehe ich jetzt auf der Erde und untermir. Nietzsche:Ich empfindenichtmehrmiteuch: diese Wolke,die ich unter mir sehe, diese Schwirze und Schwere,ilber die ich lache-gerade das ist eure Gewitterwolke. Ihr seht nach oben, wenn ihr nach Erhebung verlangt. Und ich sehe hinab,weil ich erhobenbin. Auerbach: Ich habe zum erstenmalin meinemLeben ein Adlerpaarin den Liiftengesehen. Welch ein Leben, solch ein Adlerpaar! Sie schwebten im Kreise, hoch oben. Um was schwebtensie? Dann schwangensie sich hdherund verschwandentiefin den Ltften. .... Der Adler hat niemand fibersich,keinenFeind, der ihm beikommenkann. Nietzsche:Und siehe! Ein Adler zog im weitenKreise durchdie Luft, und an ihm hing eine Schlange, nicht einer Beute gleich, sondern einer Freundin: denn sie hieltsich um seinenHals geringelt. Auerbach: Nichts B6ses mehrtun-das ist noch nichtGutes tun. Ich m6chteeine grosseTat vollziehen. Wo ist sie? In mirallein. Nietzsche: Das BSseste ist ndtigzu des UbermenschenBestem.

1 These passages are quoted because of the frequent occurrence in both works of the expression "zwischen Himmel und Erde." 2 The frequent references by both Auerbach and Nietzsche to the mirror give these parallels their significance.

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Auerbach:Der Ring ist geschlossen.Es kommtvon aussen nichts kann. Neuesmehr,ichkennealles,was da istundkommen Allesgriisst sichwieder;ewigbleibtsichtreu Nietzsche: Allesscheidet, derRingdes Seins. Auerbach:Nimmdu mich und tragemich,ich kann nichtweiter! ruftmeineSeele. Aberdannraffeich michwiederauf,fasseBiindelund Wanderstab undwandere, wandereeinsamundaileinmitmir,undimWanderngewinne ichwiederKraft. undeinBergsteiger, Nietzsche:Ich bineinWanderer sagteerzu seinem ich nichtlangestill ich nicht es kann liebe die Ebenen und scheint, Herzen, sitzen. Auerbach:Der sch6neMenschist der,dermiissiggeht,sichhegtund sichentwickelt--so lebendie Gdtter,und derMenschist der Gott pflegt, derSch6pfung.Da istmeineKetzerei. Ich habesie gebeichtet. ihrFreunde: Nietzsche: Aberdass ich euchganzmeinHerz offenbare, wennes G6ttergibe, wiehielteich'saus, keinGottzu sein! Alsogibtes keineG6tter. WohlzogichdenSchluss;nunaberziehtermich. Auerbach:Warumsagt man nur: Geh zum Kuckuck? Ich hab's gefunden:derKuckuckhat keineigenNest,keineHeimat,er muss,nach der Volkssage,jede Nacht auf einemandernBaum schlafen.Geh zum daheim. Kuckuck!heisstalso: Gehunstitundfliichtig, seinirgends unstatbinichinallenStidten Nietzsche: AberHeimatfandichnirgends: und einAufbruch an allenToren. Auerbach:Es gibt Tage, wo ich den Wald nichtertrage. Ich will keinenSchatten. Ich willSonnehaben,nichtsals Sonne,Licht. Nietzsche:"Wer bist du? fragteZarathustra heftig,was treibstdu hier? Und weshalbheissestdu dichmeinenSchatten? Du gefillstmir nicht." Auerbach:Nun wird die Menschheitin Wahrheitzum Dichter,sie verdichtet unfassbare Krifte,sprichtzum Dampf,zum Licht,zum elekFunken:komm,dienemir! trischen Nietzsche:Es ist mirnichtgenug,dass der Blitz nichtmehrschadet. Nichtableitenwillichihn: ersolllernenfiirmicharbeiten. Auerbach:Das Alleinsein machtoftdumpf, halbschlafend. Aber einstwirddich die Einsamkeitmildemachen,einst Nietzsche: und deinMuth knirschen.Schreienwirst wirddein Stolz sichkrfimmen du einst"ich binallein." 612

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Auerbach:Von allen Blumenfindeich auf der Rose den reichsten

Morgentau. Macht das der reichste Duft? Ist der Duft taubildend?

Blatthatso vielTau aufsich,als einBlumenblatt. Kein griines Nietzsche:Was habenwirgemeinmitderRosenknospe, welchezittert, Tau aufdemLeibeleigt? weilihreinTropfen Auerbach:Ich meine,durchden Willenm'isstesichder Tod besiegen lassen. Nietzsche:Ja, noch bist du mir aller GrAberZertriimmerer:Heil dir,

meinWille.

Auerbach: Fliegen-wir sehen eine ganz andere Lebenssphlirevor uns und k6nnen sie nicht fassen. Und wir glauben, wir verstehendie Welt?

Was festist,fassenwir,undnurwas festdavonist-weiterhineinbeginnt dergrosseGedankenstrich. einstfliegen Nietzsche:WerdieMenschen lehrt,derhatalle Grenzsteine selberwerdenihmin die Luftfliegen, die Erde verriickt;alle Grenzsteine wirder neu taufen-als "die Leichte."

Auerbach:Die Religion dieBildungungleich. machtalleMenschen gleich, Es mussabereineBildunggeben,die die Menschengleichmacht. derGleichheit Nietzsche:Mit diesenPredigern willich nichtvermischt und verwechselt werden. Denn so redetmir die Gerechtigkeit: "Die Menschensindnichtgleich." Auerbach:Ich binnunimdritten Jahrehier. Ich habeeinenschweren Entschluss gefasst. Ich ziehenocheinmalin die Welthinaus. Nietzsche:Hier genosser seinesGeistesund seinerEinsamkeitund wurdedessenzehnJahrenichtmiide. Endlichaberverwandelte sichsein Dazu mussich in die Tiefesteigen. Herzs..... Auerbach:Je haherder Wipfelsteigt,umsomehr stirbtdas Gezweige untenab, es erstickt. Nietzsche:Jemehrer hinaufin die HMfeund Helle will,um so starker strebenseine Wurzelnerdwarts,abwirts,ins Dunkle, Tiefe-ins B6se.

It will be noticed at once that some of these "parallels" are similar in thought, others similar in words though dissimilarin thought-the last one,forexample. This difference, however,would not ofitselfdisproveAuerbach'sinfluence. A numberofNietzsche's best-knownsayings and words grew out of his skeptical reading. We have but to thinkof the commonwordNdchstenliebe and Nietzsche's uncommon Fernstenliebe.That it is possible to stimulate 613

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by frictionis known to everyone. Nietzsche called Schiller "Der Moral-Trompeter von Sdickingen." Auerbach said' of Schiller: "Wenn es eine Chemie des deutschenGeistes geben k6nnte,man wirde bei einerexaktenAnalyseeinengrossenBestandteilfinden,der Schillerheisst." In viewofNietzsche'sopinionof "deutscherGeist," these two judgmentsmay be antipodal,and then theymay not. And it is not simplyin Irma's diary that we findideas parallel to thosein Zarathustra,but all throughthe novel. Irma says (Book II, 112): "Ich habe nur den Mut, immerzu sagen, was ich denke, und das kommt dann originellheraus." Aside from Nietzsche's genius, that is the explanationof his popularity; he said what he thought,and he was a greatthinker. The K6nig refers(II, 128), to the Leibarzt as "der ewig starre,seine Wiirde Wahrende." Irma cries out (II, 151): "Einsam und stark und ich selbst in mir." Auerbachhimselfsays (II, 157): "Du grosserWeltbiittel,derdu uns einspundest,dein Name ist Gewohnheit." The K6nig says (III, 19): "Allen und Jedem misstrauen-das war die grosse Lehre." And it was Nietzsche's. We have also the ecstaticstyle,the punctuation,the illustrations, based on the eagle, the cow, the mirror,the deep well, the rainbow, the child, the exhortation(VI, 150) to be "hart gegen sich und andere," the developmentof individuality,and the longingforthe top of the mountain (VIII, 131) "die kein Menschenfussbetreten, nur die Wolken kommendorthinund nur das Auge des Adlersruht darauf." IV Parallels of this sort are, however,not sufficientto prove that Auerbach influencedNietzsche. And Nietzsche never referredto Auf derHohe in his writing. Is there any othersortof evidencein this connection? Nietzschebegan workon Zarathustra2 in the winterof 1882, the of Auerbach's death. all of With Nietzsche's detestationof year newspapers,he could not have escaped noticeof the event,forAuerbach was givena funeralsecondin pomp onlyto that accordedKlop1 Cf. Anton Bettelheim, Tell-Studien von Berthold Auerbach (Berlin, 1905), p. 125. 2 The in Nietzsche's is set forthby ElisabethFbrster-Nietzsche genesisofZarathustra

Werke,VI, 479-85.

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stock. The regionmost intimatelyassociated withthe composition ofZarathustrais the Engadine. On the summitofone ofthe bellevues of this region there is a bench with the inscription: "Auerbachs H6he."' Not farthenfromthe spot whereZarathustrafirstilberfiel Nietzsche, we have a constant reminderof the author of Auf der Hihe. Auerbachwas a frequentvisitorin thisregion. It is entirely possiblethat he metNietzschetherein person; but we have no record of such a meeting. And now as to the motivation. Why did Irma writeher diary? The plot up to the beginningof its compositionis brieflyas follows: The King is the type of eine heroischeNatur. He is an archindividualist. He stands on the heights,above his people, and forthis very reason comes in conflictwith his people. They want a constitution,but the King will not grantit; that would interferewith his individuality. He feelshimselfentirelybeyondboththe political and the morallaw. He admiresthe Queen thoughhe does not love her. She is taken fromJean Paul's novels. He falls in love with to the Queen. Irma and the King take one Irma, lady-in-waiting false step. It becomesnoised abroad, public opinionscornsher,her fatherdies fromgrief,and life at the court becomes impossiblefor her. She leaves the courtand goes to the mountainswhereshe leads a lifeof loneliness,and whereshe writesher diary. She is penitent, but onlyso faras she feelsresponsibleforthe death of herfatherand the sadness of the Queen over the abuse of her trustand friendship; otherwiseshe is beyondthe stupid,because, she says, conventional, laws of the world. She remainsin the mountainsuntil her death. The Pechmdnnlein who aids her in her wood-carvingis the one individual whom she sees with anythinglike frequency. Pech also plays a r6le in Zarathustra,thoughthis point could easily be pushed too far. Why did Auerbach,surroundedas he was by friends,writethis work? He never committedany great wrongthat would forcehim to flee frommen. It is indubitablyan indirecttributeto Baruch Spinoza (Auerbach's real name was Moyses Baruch). Auerbach was a profoundstudent of Spinoza. His novel Spinoza appeared 1 Cf. Franz Dingelstedt, Literarisches Bilderbuch (Berlin, 1878), pp. 213-57, which deal with Auerbach under the rubric "Auerbachs HOhe."

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in 1837, his translationof Spinoza's worksin 1841. And just as the excommunicatedSpinoza retiredunto himselfand wrotehis Ethics (1665), so does the ostracizedIrma retireunto herselfand writeher ethical diary (1865). Irma's diary sounds in places almost like a translation of Spinoza's Ethics. The last words of Auerbach's novel on Spinoza are as follows(XI, 232): "Spinoza zog hin nach Rhynsburgund von da nach Voorburgund dem Haag und schrieb den theologisch-politischen Traktat und die Ethik. Einsam und er verbrachte fortansein Dasein. .... Es erstand abgeschieden kein Dichter wiederwie Spinoza, der so im Ewigen gelebt." Those wordsmotivatedAuerbach's novel. Possibly, then, Nietzsche borrowedfromSpinoza and not from Auerbach at all, for, though he does not mentionSpinoza in his to Spinoza in Nietzsche's letters,and thoughthereare no references lifeby his sister,thereare forty-oddreferences'to Spinoza in Nietzsche's works. That some of these are unfavorableis of no consequence. As to the favorableones,Nietzschelooked upon Spinoza as the wisest of sages, the great idealist, the great individualistwho destroyedhis emotions,the despiserof pity,the impossiblehusband, and as one of the four predecessorsof Zarathustra,Empedocles, Heraclitus,and Goethe being the otherthree. In short,Nietzsche mentionedSpinoza more frequentlythan he did Auerbach. But there are a number of thingsthat militate against the idea that to any markeddegreethe compositionof ZaraSpinoza influenced2 thustra. In the firstplace, we have to considerthe motivationof Zarathustra. The idea had been in Nietzsche'smind forsome time,but in 1882 it had to be written. Nietzsche,forsakenby the world at large, disappointedby his immediatefriends,and out of harmony with thingsin general,concludedthat new values must be set up, 1 Cf. G. A. Dernoschek, Das Problem des egoistischenPerfektionismusin der Ethik Spinozas und Nietzsches (Annaberg, 1905), p. 11. Dernoschek cites the places in Nietzsche's works where reference is made to Spinoza. The index of the English edition (Macmillan) is unreliable here. 2It must be conceded that Spinoza's Ethics does sound much like Zarathustra. Spinoza defines gut and schlecht,for example, as follows.: "Unter 'gut' verstehe ich das, von dem wir gewiss wissen, dass es uns niitzlich ist. Unter 'schlecht' aber verstehe ich das, von dem wir gewiss wissen, dass es uns hindert, ein Gutes zu erlangen." That sounds remarkably like the code of both Irma and Zarathustra. See Die Ethik von B. Spinoza, translated by J. Stern (Leipzig, 1887), p. 253.

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new doctrinespreached,a new type of man proclaimed. His work was inspiredlargelyby his ownlife,whileAuerbach'snovelcamemore nearlyfroma study of Spinoza. The inspirationof the formerwas direct,that of the latter indirect. It is somewhatas it was with WilhelmMeister and the imitative works that followed: Goethe wrote his novel out of his own life,while Tieck, Eichendorff, and in otherswrotetheirReise- und Bildungsromane imitation of partly Goethe. And thenwe have to view the matteralso fromthe pointof view of convenienceand expediency. There is now a voluminousSpinoza literaturein German,but the great bulk of it postdatesthe original conception,indeedthefinalcomposition,ofZarathustra. Auerbach's translationof Spinoza's works,and his novel on, and othercommitmentsconcerning,Spinoza would have been Nietzsche'smost accessible sourcesin 1882 and earlier. Dernoscheksuggests(p. 12) that NietzschepossiblyknewKuno Fischer'streatiseon Spinoza whenhe wrotehis Zur Genealogieder Moral (1887). Be this true or not, let us rememberwhat Nietzsche said in 1872: "Ich kann Auerbach nichtmehrlesen." Whilethisprovesthat he was readinghimat the time,it does not provethat he did not read himlater. V In his Nietzsche,Richard M. Meyer makes, forthis paper, two remarks(346): "'Noch einenTropfenaus dem Gedankensignificant meer!' riefwohlin seinernaivenFreude an gedanklickenFunden und Fiindlein Berthold Auerbach. Mit gr6sseremRechte m6chte man das ausrufen,wenn aus dem Meere der Gedanken Nietzsches das Wesentlicheherausgeholtwerdensoll." But Meyer never said in so many words that Auerbachmay have influencedNietzsche,nor has anyone else. And again (p. 562): "Man wird erstaunen,wie oft die originellstenGedanken der grossenEinsamen schon in der Luft lagen." The truth of this statementcannot be too highly valued. As soon as thinkingmen begin to discuss the relationof men to the world,their ideas must cross, their thoughtsmust be at times the same. All men of the type of either Auerbach or Nietzsche have their spiritualancestors. Meyer lists (pp. 79-97) the followingas constitutingthe most importantpredecessorsof 617

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Nietzsche-as his "verwandte Naturen": Carlyle, G. F. Daumer, Eugen Diihring,Emerson,Gustave Flaubert, Goethe, Heinse, Karl Hillebrand, H61derlin,Ibsen, Wilhelm Jordan, Paul de Lagarde, SiegfriedLipiner, Ernest Renan, Ruskin, George Sand, and Max Stirner. That is a formidablegalaxy and in view of Meyer's enormous Belesenheit it wouldbe hazardousto gainsayit. But ifwe may depend upon the completeindex to Nietzsche's works,as compiled in the eighteenthvolume of the Macmillan edition, Nietzsche nevermentionedthe following:Heinse, Ruskin,G. F. Daumer, Max Stirner,WilhelmJordan,Paul de Lagarde, and Lipiner.' And the same principleapplies to Zarathustra. Many works2have been cited on which Nietzsche is supposed to have drawn forits composition, despite the fact that his sistersays (VI, 479) that it is his "persdnlichstes Werk . . . . die Geschichte seiner innerstenErlebnisse." But Auerbach has never been mentionedin this connection,though thereis muchin his worksthat sounds Nietzschean. If, for example, Nietzsche never read Auerbach's Tausend Gedanken,3we have to do herewitha most unusual case of parallelism. Auerbach's comment(p. 52) on "Vorhemdchens-Bildung, die eben nur so viel hat, als zum Gesehenwerdennitig ist," is Nietzscheanon generalprinciples,and closelyakin to Nietzsche'sfrequentreferences to Vordergrund and its attendingevils. His explanationofthe Jews' is preciselythe same as that given by ability to endure suffering Nietzsche in his Morgenr6the.His notes (pp. 172 and 226) on the originsof the conceptsgutand b6secould not be more Nietzschean. But space forbidsdetailed quotation. 1 Daumer, Lagarde, and Lipiner are, however, mentioned in Nietzsche's letters, and the index to the English edition of Nietzsche's works is incomplete. 2 According to the introduction to the English edition, by Alexander Tille, and Hans Weichelt in Also sprach Zarathustra, erkldrtund gewurdigt(Leipzig, 1910), the following are some of the more important works that may have influenced Nietzsche in the composition of Zarathustra: The Avesta, the writings of Plato and Heraclitus, the Bible, St. Augustine's Confessions and City, Erasmus' Lob der Torheit, H61derlin's Hyperion, Jordan's Nibelungen, Carl Spitteler's Prometheus und Epimetheus, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Piers the Ploughman, Riichert's Weisheit des Brahmanen, Goethe's Divan, Dahn's Odhins Trost, F. T. Vischer's Auch Einer, and a number of works by Gutzkow, whom Nietzsche especially disliked.

3 The complete title of the book is Tausend Gedanken des Collaborators. The "collaborator" is Auerbach himself. The book contains about 1,000 aphorisms. It was published at Berlin in 1875. The copy in the New York Public Library was presented by Auerbach to George Bancroft, and contains a personal note by the author.

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Both Auerbach and Nietzsche were much given to repetition; thereare certainthemesand conceitsto whichtheywere constantly returning. Of these the fourmost importantare: die Einsamkeit, die Ewigkeit,and der Wille. If the two had never die Sittlichkeit, used the same concretefigures,theircommonuse of these abstract ones alone would be sufficientto make one suspect that the one influencedthe other; but thentherecome,aside fromthose already mentioned,a numberof tangiblesimilaritiessuch as theircommon to die scheckige references Prometheus, Kuh, die Glocke,derVerbrecher, and so on, and suspicionis turnedinto belief. Nietzsche was not an omnivorousreader,but a very rapid one. We come across the remarkeverynow and thenin his lettersthat on a certainday he read a certainbook, sometimesa very large one, Malvida von Meysenbug's Memoiren, for example. Auerbach, Freytag,and a fewotherswere the favoritewritersof the scholarly reading public in Germany fromabout 1870 to 1880. Nietzsche knewthe worksof these men,forit was the Germanyof thoseyears in which he was particularlyinterestedand with which he was particularlydissatisfied. The fact that he disliked the literature that was then being writtenis of negligibleimportance. The point is this: Nietzschestands out in giganticreliefbetweenhis predecessors and his successors. A great deal of effectivework has been done by way of attemptingto show his influenceon thosewho came afterhim. It was Nietzsche'speculiartypeofgreatnessthatinspired this method of approach. A reversalof the procedureby way of attemptingto showwhathe owedto thosewhowentbeforehimmight also be productiveof illuminatingresults.' ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD MILITARY CENSOR -FORT MCPHERSON, GA. 'Cf. Arthur Drews, Nietzsche's Philosophie (Heidelberg, 1904), p. 112. Drews comments on Auerbach's popularity among the Gebildeteof Nietzsche's time without intimating that the formermay have influenced the latter.

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