Berliner Nietzsche Colloquium

The Berliner Nietzsche Colloquium (BNC) is an open academic reading and discussion group dedicated to the work of Friedrich Nietzsche. The main motivation behind this colloquium is the essential insight that Nietzsche’s philosophy should not only be read and investigated on its own but must be shared and discussed. It was established by me in October 2008 at the Technische Universität Berlin. I came to Berlin to work with Günter Abel after I was awarded a research position funded by the Volkswagen Foundation’s Initiative for Excellence in the Humanities (the so-called Dilthey Fellowship) to investigate Nietzsche’s philosophy of science. Out of this engagement with the Nietzschean perspective on science and research grew the scholarly ideals of the BNC. As such, the colloquium is not restricted to any specific topic or approach but covers the broad range of contemporary international Nietzsche research.

Meetings and Members

During the German summer and winter terms (mid-April to mid-July and mid-October to mid-February), we meet regularly on every Wednesday from 6 to 8 pm. The BNC is mainly directed toward graduate students and academics but is open to anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of Nietzsche’s ideas and in making a serious effort to read his work carefully. It has been a real success thus far not only with respect to scholarly quality but also in terms of visibility and attendance.

A significant advantage of this colloquium is that it is situated in Berlin. Not only is Berlin one of the most exciting cities in Europe, but it also hosts excellent libraries and research institutions. The concentration of Nietzsche scholars at Berlin institutions—including Günter Abel, Rainer Adolphi, Marco Brusotti, Steffen Dietzsch, Volker Gerhardt, myself, Renate Reschke, Sören Reuter, Udo Tietz, and Claus Zittel—regularly attracts a good number of PhD candidates as well as visiting scholars from many different countries and backgrounds. In particular, researchers from abroad choose to study in Berlin in order to improve their language skills and interact with German philosophers. For these international guests, the BNC proves to be an excellent opportunity to present their research and engage in a weekly academic exchange on Nietzsche. As a result, the BNC continues to count members from literally all over the world. The working language is German, though some of the talks and discussions are held in English. While our current mailing list reaches more than a hundred people, it is usually a group of about twenty scholars attending the weekly meetings. Lisa Heller, my collaborator and co-organizer of the BNC, circulates information and material via this list in preparation for the meetings.

The BNC provides space to present and discuss individual research projects, as well as Nietzsche’s own texts and secondary literature. Most of our sessions are filled with presentations by our regular members. Usually, these papers are circulated a couple of days before the meeting to allow better preparation and a more productive debate. We enjoy a research-focused yet constructive discursive atmosphere, which allows for the presentation of works in progress. We have seen many MA and PhD, and postdoctoral projects over the years; some of them have since been published—for example, the monographs of Marcus Born, Nikolaos Loukidelis, Manos Perrakis, Axel Pichler, and Simon Springmann. A smaller number of our sessions are devoted to a close reading of selected Nietzsche texts. We have hosted particularly productive discussions of Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft 125, Zarathustra’s fourth speech, and Nietzsche’s late poem “Zwischen Raubvögeln.” If a member of the colloquium wishes to discuss a relevant piece of secondary literature, we occasionally will dedicate a session to it. The funding of the Volkswagen Foundation also allows us to invite some guest speakers to Berlin each term. We have hosted a number of eminent international Nietzsche scholars including, in chronological order, Aldo Venturelli, Thomas Brobjer, Andreas Urs Sommer, Babette Babich, Anthony K. Jensen, Volker Gerhardt, Vanessa Lemm, Werner Stegmaier, Enrico Müller, Marco Brusotti, Hermann Siemens, Chiara Piazzesi, Ken Gemes, and Martin Saar.

Conferences and Summer Schools

In addition to these weekly meetings, the...