The Mortal and the Eternal – Friedrich Nietzsche’s Death Mask

At the age of 36—plagued by headaches, nearly blind, and having already given up his post as a professor of philosophy—Friedrich Nietzsche arrives in the Engadin. The high-Alpine valley region, located in southeasternmost Graubünden, particularly the village of Sils-Maria, becomes something of a space of rest and inspiration for him. Here, he writes significant works and feels “by far the most at ease on Earth.”

Nietzsche is not long for this world. At the age of 55, he dies in 1900 in a state of mental derangement. A death mask is made to capture and preserve his final facial features. It is later restored and, in 1960, finds its way to Sils-Maria.

Friedrich Nietzsche spent seven summers in the Engadin village—in what was once the home of the Durisch family. Today, the former farmhouse serves as a museum and research center dedicated to Nietzsche’s life and work. The small room where Nietzsche once lived has been preserved in all its simplicity. His death mask is also on display here.