Continued … The strange and tragic case of Kaspar Hauser first came to public attention in the month of May, 1828, when he stumbled through the New Gate of the German City of Nuremberg. It was during the afternoon that the youth of sixteen or seventeen years entered the city on unsteady legs.

His eyes were red and unused to sunlight, and the soles of his feet, blistered from walking, were as smooth as the hands of a baby. Like a child newly emerged from the womb, this adolescent boy seemed a complete stranger to almost everything in the world.

To Nurembergers who gathered around, the boy held out two letters, one of which was addressed to a cavalry captain. He was taken to the captain's house, but, because the captain was not at home, and because he could give no account of himself, he was then taken to a police station. Here it was recorded that he could only speak two sentences in the German language, and that when given paper and pencil he wrote the name Kaspar Hauser.

But he was not put away and forgotten. He had astonished and mystified Nurembergers, in the captain's house, and these townsmen had told others, so that a crowd had gone with him to the station house, remaining outside, discussing the strange arrival.

Of the two letters, one purported to be from the boy's mother, dated sixteen years before, telling that she was abandoning her infant, asking the finder to send him to Nuremberg, when he became seventeen years old, to enlist in the Sixth Cavalry Regiment, of which his father had been a member. The other letter purported to be from the finder of the infant, telling that he had ten children of his own, and could no longer support the boy.

Someone soon found that these letters had not been written by different persons, sixteen years apart. One of them was in Latin characters, but both were written with the same ink, upon the same kind of paper. In the 'later' letter, it was said: 'I have taught him to read and write, and he writes my handwriting exactly as I do'. Whereupon the name Kaspar had written, in the police station, was examined, and it was said that the writings were similar.

Largely for this reason, it has been said that Kaspar Hauser was an impostor - or that he had written the letters himself, with what expectation of profit to himself is not made clear.

He seemed unacquainted with the commonest objects and experiences of the everyday affairs of human beings. The astonishment with which he had looked at the captain's sabre had attracted attention. He had been given a pot of beer. The lustre of the pot and the colour of the beer affected him, as if he had never seen anything of the kind before. Later, seeing a burning candle, he cried out in delight with it, and before anybody could stop him, tried to pick up the flame.

The only words he knew were his name, Kaspar Hauser, and a few phrases, clearly meaningless to him, such as 'I want to be a rider like my father", which he used to express everything from thirst to anxiety. He was unable to eat anything but bread and water, and reacted violently to most sensory impressions. The very smell of meat or alcohol would put him into terrible convulsions.

His extreme reactions and sensitivity soon attracted interest amongst the local population, who flocked to see him in the prison like an exhibit in a freak show. Tortured with loud sounds that made him cry, snuff which caused him to faint, smells and food which left him retching uncontrollably, by the end of two months Kaspar's nerves were in a state of near collapse.

People living along the road leading to the New Gate were questioned. No one had heard or seen anything. Kaspar had appeared in Nuremberg on a holiday when most of the farmers were not out in their fields working. Upon this day, as told by him later, 'the man' carried him from the dark room, and led him, compelling him to keep his eyes downward, toward Nuremberg. Kaspar's clothes were changed for those of a peasant. It was noted in Nuremberg that they seemed not to belong to him, because Kaspar was not a peasant boy, judging by the softness of his hands (von Feuerbach).

Now the city of Nuremberg adopted Kaspar and excitement and investigation spread far around Nuremberg. A reward was offered, and, throughout Germany, the likeness of Kaspar Hauser was posted in public places. People in Hungary took up the investigation. Writers in France made much of the mystery, and the story was published in England. People from all parts of Europe went to see the boy.

The mystery was so stimulated by pamphleteers that, though 'feverish' seems an extreme word, writers described the excitement over this boy, 'who had appeared as if from the clouds,' as a 'fever'. Because of this international interest, Kaspar Hauser was known as 'The Child of Europe.'

At this crucial point, the authorities placed Kaspar in the care of Professor Daumer, a local teacher. Removed from the glare of the public eye, Kaspar flowered under Daumer's gentle and compassionate tutelage. Within months he was able to speak, read and write.

As Kaspar's ability to communicate developed, his story gradually emerged. In the year 1829, he wrote his own story, telling that, until the age of sixteen or seventeen, as far as he could remember, he had lived in a dark ``Behältnis'' (container), about two meters long, one meter wide, and one and a half high. There was a straw bed for sleeping; he had worn a shirt and leather trousers. He found water and bread next to his bed every morning. Sometimes the water tasted bitter; then he slept, and when he awoke again, someone had changed his clothes and cut his nails.

There was never any light in his container. He had known only one person, alluded to by him, as 'the man,' who, toward the end of his confinement had taught him two sentences, one of them signifying that he wished to join the cavalry regiment, and the other, 'I don't know.' He had been treated kindly, except once, when he had been struck for being noisy.

He was kept alive in this near vegetative state until his keeper appeared, taught him to write his name, walk, and to speak a few rudimentary sentences, such as: "I want to be a rider like my father". Equipped with only these and a rough collection of clothes, Kaspar had been led to Nuremberg market and abandoned there.

It would seem he had been confined, not in a cell, or a dungeon, but in a room in a house, with neighbours around, and somebody feared that sounds from him would attract attention - or that there were neighbours so close to this place that the imprisonment of a boy could not have been kept a secret more than a few weeks. But if Kaspar Hauser had been confined in a dark room, it had not been for more than a few weeks. 'He had a healthy color' (Hiltel). 'He had a very healthy color:he did not appear pale or delicate, like one who had been some time in confinement' (Policeman Wüst).

While in the care of Professor Daumer, Kaspar's extraordinary sensitivity and nature became apparent. He could see colours in the dark, and identify metals blindfolded, by sensing their properties with his hand. A wild cat who would attack any other human being was drawn to him. Above all, his gentle and compassionate nature and a quality of complete moral integrity was observed. After some changes to his diet, especially the slow introduction of meat, Kaspar's sensitivity and pure moral nature went into a period of decline.

Then, on October 17th, 1829, a year and a half after his appearance, Kaspar was found in Prof.Daumer's house, bleeding from a cut in the forehead. He said a man in a black mask had appeared suddenly, and had stabbed him. It was explained that this was attempted suicide but stabbing oneself in the forehead is a queer way to attempt suicide, and in Nuremberg arose a belief that Kaspar's life was in danger from unknown enemies, and two policemen were assigned to guard him. Those most closely involved with him, notably the local judge and criminologist Anselm Ritter Feuerbach, gradually became convinced that he was none other than the Prince of Baden, believed to have died at birth.

The attack had a very damaging effect on Kaspar's emotions (although it reawakened his sensitivity and mental powers). For his physical safety and emotional security, it was decided to put him in the care of the wealthy businessman Herr Bieberbach. While Bieberbach himself meant the boy well, Frau Bieberbach's sexual advances towards him cast Kaspar into an even more anxious state.

He was hurriedly removed to the care of Baron von Tucher, who patiently restored the boy's emotional, mental and moral health. Baron von Tucher's efforts, however, were undermined by the appearance of an English earl, Lord Stanhope, who professed great interest in and affection for Kaspar, showering him with gifts, encouraging him towards vanity and conceit about his supposed royal parentage, and making lavish promises to the boy. In March 1830, Stanhope, supposedly a friend of the successor, Grand Duke Leopold, gained custody of Kaspar.

He publicly declared that Kaspar was Hungarian and had no ties to the family of the Duke. He also tried to convince others to change their statements and say they'd taken Kaspar for a fraud. But von Feuerbach concluded that Kaspar's freedom had taken away from him because of greed; that he was a legitimate son of the Grand Duke, and that he had been removed to allow someone else to succeed the principal.

During one afternoon in May, 1831, Kaspar was at home, still guarded by policemen. Somehow Kaspar was alone in one room and one of the policemen, in another room, heard a pistol shot. He ran to Kaspar and found him again wounded in the forehead. Kaspar said that it was an accident: that he had climbed upon the back of a chair, and, reaching for a book, had slipped, and, catching out wildly, had grabbed a pistol that was hanging on the wall, discharging it and it had hit his forehead. Again he recovered.

Stanhope had Kaspar removed to Ansbach and placed under the watchful eyes of Herr Meyer, a strict schoolmaster whose unfeeling domination and insistence on rote learning stunted Kaspar's creativity and inner growth. This was a dark period in Kaspar's life. He suffered under the restrictive control of Herr Meyer, while his beloved patron, Lord Stanhope, vanished, leaving Kaspar to see all Stanhope’s lavish promises turn to ashes. One of the few redeeming factors in this period of his life was Kaspar's confirmation in the Christian faith by Pastor Fuhrmann.

Throughout the five years following his appearance, Kaspar had attracted increasing public attention. Numerous articles were published about him, and speculation about his origins continued to grow. Feuerbach, in particular, came increasingly close to proving that Kaspar was, indeed, the rightful heir to the Baden throne - until he mysteriously died in 1833; rumours said he had been poisoned because he had found proof for Kaspar's principal heritage. No such proof was ever shown.

On December 14th, 1833, Kaspar Hauser had gone to a park in Ansbach. How he had done that without attracting attention was not explained. He’d run from the park, crying that he had been stabbed. Deeply wounded in his side, he was taken to his home. The park, which was covered with new-fallen snow, was searched, but no weapon was found, and only Kaspar's footprints were seen in the snow.

The point of his heart had been pierced by something that had cut through the diaphragm, penetrating stomach and liver. Two of the attending physicians gave their opinion that Kaspar could not have so injured himself but the opinion of the third physician was an indirect accusation of suicide: that the blow had been struck by a left-handed person. Kaspar was ambidextrous.

It appeared he had been lured into the park by the promise of news of his mother. Many who crowded round him demanded he confess that he had done it himself and eventually, in answer, he replied, 'My God! That I should so die in shame and disgrace!'

Rewards for the capture of an assassin were offered. Again, throughout Germany, posters appeared in public places, and in Germany and other countries there were renewed outbursts of pamphlets. He died three days later, after uttering the words 'The monster has become too big for me."

After his death, speculation was rife about who he was and where he came from. In the face of increasing evidence of his royal origins, great efforts were made, notably by Stanhope, his erstwhile "godfather" to persuade the public otherwise - that Kaspar Hauser was a fraud, initiating a debate that continues today.

Soon after the death of Kaspar Hauser, several persons who had shown much interest in his case died and it was told in Nuremberg that they had been poisoned. They were Mayor Binder, Dr. Osterhauser, Dr. Preu, and Dr. Albert.

[The strange English in places in this article is because the original for some of the text was in German.]