Von Neapel nach Weimar. Vicos 'deutsche Reise'

This article traces the stations of the Vico's early reception in Germany, starting with the review of "De antiquissima Italorum sapient" that appeared 1710 in Leipzig and ending with Goethe's famous reference to Vico as "Ältervater" of his compatriots in 1817. The different documents of this receptions can be classified according to their respective tendencies as informative, polemical or interpretative. A closer examination reveals the idea of Vico and his work as a hidden "source" (of 'physiocratie', human science, the good and the right); secondly it shows that two approaches of research can be distinguished, an approach focussing on functional analogies between Vico and certain German thinkers, another one that tries to establish a direct influence. Major documents of Vico's reception in Germany are added to this paper.