On May 26, 1828, a strange young man appeared on the streets of Nuremberg, Germany. He was dressed in peasant garb and walked with the unsteady gait of a toddler. His helpless and bewildered manner soon attracted the attention of the townsfolk. When they began to question him, they discovered that the youth could hardly talk.
The only clues to his identity were two letters found on his person. One purported to be from his mother. She wrote that he had been born on April 30, 1812, that he had been baptized, and that his name was Kaspar. She alleged that his father had been a cavalry officer in the 6th. regiment at Nuremberg, and was deceased.
The second was purported to have been written by a poor laborer. He stated that he had been given custody of the boy on October 7, 1812, and that he had taught him reading, writing and the Christian religion as he had agreed to do. He further related that he had kept the boy in close confinement.
When the handwriting on both notes were analysed, they were found to have been written by the same person.
Initially, Kasper was regarded as a vagrant and spent the next two months in Vestner Gate Tower under the care of a jailer. He could only eat bread and water and he was just able to write his name: "Kaspar Hauser".
Although he was judged to be about 16, the boy seemed to have the mental development of a six-year-old. The only words he spoke were, "Horse! Horse!", which he called out excitedly when he saw any animal, and "I want to be a knight as my father was." Further inquiries elicited only tears and frustrated repetitions of "Don't know! Don't know!"
On July 18, 1828, the town authorities delivered Kaspar into the care of a schoolmaster, Professor Daumer, who undertook to educate the boy. He quickly grew stronger physically and mentally. In time, Kaspar was able to tell his life story.
Ever since he could remember, he had been kept in a small, windowless cell, about 7' by 4'. There was a dirt floor, and the ceiling had been too low to allow him to stand. He slept on a pile of straw in the corner. His only toy had been a carved wooden horse. Each morning he found bread and water near the door of his cell. This was all he was given to eat.
Periodically, the water he was given would taste extremely bitter and cause him to fall into a deep sleep. He would awaken to find that his hair and nails had been cut, and fresh straw had been put in the cell.
The details of Kaspar's early life drew international attention. He became known as "The Child of Europe". Rumours began to circulate that he might be related to the Grand Duke of Baden, to whom he bore a startling resemblance.
Speculation began to grow that he was indeed the son of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden, and Stephanie de Beauharnais, adopted daughter of Napoleon I of France. The couple had had a male child who was believed to have died. Karl's uncle, Leopold I of Baden was his successor.
It was suspected that Leopold's mother, the Countess von Hochberg, had taken the healthy infant prince and put a dead baby in his place. If this theory were true, she was the culprit responsible for Kaspar's years of captivity.
Kaspar began to write his autobiography and he proudly showed it to his numerous visitors. This, perhaps. was considered too dangerous an activity by his enemies. On October 17, 1829, a hooded man tried to kill him with a large knife. He only succeeded in giving the young man a long gash in the forehead.
The apparent assassination attempt further fuelled rumours of Kaspar's possible close connection to the House of Baden.
Shortly after, an British nobleman, Lord Stanhope, attempted to win Kaspar's trust with gifts and in time, gained custody of him. He moved the lad to Ansbach, a Bavarian village, and entrusted him to the care of one Johan Meyer. Some historians believe that Stanhope himself had connections to the House of Baden.
On December 14, 1833, Kaspar was lured to a park on the promise of receiving information about his background. He was stabbed in the chest by a stranger. He managed to get home, but died three days later at the age of twenty-one.
In 2002, the Institute for Forensic Medicine of the University of Munster analysed hair and body cells as well as clothing said to have belonged to Kaspar Hauser. They were compared to DNA samples from Astrid von Medinger, a descendant of Stephanie Beauharnais, who would have been Kaspar's mother, if he were indeed the true prince of Baden. There was a 95% match.
The House of Baden refuses to comment on the Hauser matter and refuses to allow tests on the remains of the stillborn baby boy purported to be the son of Stephanie de Beauharnais and Karl, Grand Duke of Baden.
Kaspar Hauser lies buried in a country graveyard in Ansbach. A monument to him was erected which reads: "Hic occultus occulto occisus est". "Here a mysterious one was killed in a mysterious manner."
Many books, articles and two films have been devoted to recounting the story of Kaspar Hauser, but a definite answer to the riddle of the lad's family and background may ever be proven beyond doubt.
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