Old Age and Legacy

After long periods of sickness, in 1897 Overbeck became an Emeritus professor, and in the following year, noticeably weakened, he gave up this honorary appointment at Basel. In 1903 and after long hesitation, he accepted an honorary doctorate degree from the University of St Andrews. In 1905, Franz Overbeck died in Basel.
After his death, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche continued to pursue him and his reputation. In 1907, she revived a campaign against him, which in turn was rebuffed by his wife Ida and his longtime friend Carl Albrecht Bernoulli.
It was not until several decades after Overbeck's death that his (anti-)theological views were taken seriously, notably by Karl Barth, Karl Löwith, and Martin Heidegger. Since c. 1980, interest in Overbeck has grown, at least in German academic circles, as is shown by the increasing number of publications in that country.