The town called “The Colourful Cow” (“die bunte Kuh”) is a location in which Zarathustra delivers all of the speeches of part 1, as well as the speech in chapter 3.8, On Apostates. Little is said about the town itself, other than that it is surrounded by mountains, and that it lies in a valley. It is clear that Zarathustra finds an audience here, as throughout his speeches in this town he addresses his “friends” and his “brothers”, and occasionally refers to them as his “disciples”. While most speeches in part 1 address a group of listeners, in some speeches he also singles out a single “brother”. In addition, he addresses other types or groups within society, such as “despisers of the body”, and “judges and sacrificers”.

There is no clear indication in the book as to why Zarathustra’s favourite town is given this name, and it might simply be a reference to the old German idiom “there is more that one colourful cow” (“Es gibt mehr als eine bunte Kuh”), which suggests that while a thing might appear unique, there are likely others of its kind, or of a similar kind. While Zarathustra’s favourite town is certainly unique, at least to him, its generic description suggests it could be almost anywhere, and the topics, types and behaviours discussed in his speeches given here can also represent events that are not bound to any specific time.