In the early 1960s, Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari were preparing an Italian edition of Nietzsche’s works. However, they needed a reliable German-language foundation for this. Both the old editions from the archive and the Schlechta edition raised unresolved questions; in particular, none of the previous editions were suitable for a complete edition of Nietzsche’s literary remains.
In 1961, Montinari traveled to Weimar to get an overview of the available original manuscripts and, after consultations with Colli, they agreed that they needed to publish an entirely new, critical complete edition. However, the publisher Einaudi, which was supposed to release the translation, rejected this project due to financial and ideological concerns. As a result, Luciano Foà, who had previously worked at Einaudi, founded the new publishing house Adelphi and secured the publication of the new edition through a contract with the major Parisian publisher Gallimard; the first Italian volumes appeared in 1964. Only after this did the German publisher De Gruyter show interest, and from 1967 onwards, the Kritische Gesamtausgabe (KGW) was also published in German. In the 1970s, supported by the Nietzsche-Studien journal, which Montinari also co-founded, the KGW replaced earlier editions as the standard edition.
To date, around 40 volumes have been published, particularly since 2001, including the literary remains from 1885 onwards in a differentiated transcription with accompanying facsimile CD-ROMs. Essentially, only some commentary volumes are still missing. In 1980, the Kritische Studienausgabe (KSA, second edition in 1988) was published for the first time, containing the works and philosophical literary remains from 1869, along with a scientific apparatus that is abridged compared to the complete edition but sufficient for study purposes.
Additionally, various publishers release Nietzsche editions. The booklets published by Reclam, where possible, follow the Colli-Montinari edition and include afterwards by significant Nietzsche scholars (Günter Figal, Volker Gerhardt, Josef Simon). Separate editions are also published by Insel and Goldmann publishers, the latter compiled by Peter Pütz. However, both are scientifically inferior to the Colli-Montinari edition, especially in terms of commentary; the Insel series even presents some incomplete texts based on old archive editions. The Alfred Kröner Verlag also still offers an edition, which continues to include the questionable compilations “The Will to Power” and “The Innocence of Becoming,” and as such, remains subject to ongoing criticism from Nietzsche scholars.
Simon Gros 
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