Projektpartner und Projektionsfiguren? Ida Overbeck und Friedrich Nietzsche

Abstract This article explores the overlooked intellectual and personal contributions of Ida Overbeck, wife of Franz Overbeck, within the context of Friedrich Nietzsche’s intellectual circle. While choosing to remain publicly anonymous, Ida Overbeck translated French literary criticism for Nietzsche, most notably texts by Sainte-Beuve. Her translations influenced Nietzsche’s engagement with 18th-century French moralists. Drawing on her diary entries, the paper reveals a complex portrait of a woman negotiating her identity amid societal expectations, intimate friendships, and cultural production. Her insights into Nietzsche’s personality and his relationship with Lou von Salomé add a nuanced, often critical, female perspective to established narratives in Nietzsche scholarship.