He appeared to flourish in this environment. Hauser was given into the care of Friedrich Daumer, a schoolmaster and speculative philosopher, who taught him various subjects and who thereby discovered his talent for drawing. Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach, president of the Bavarian court of appeals, began to investigate the case. Pencil drawing by Kaspar Hauser, 1829 Further life in Nuremberg Rumours arose that he was of princely parentage, possibly of Baden origin, but there were also claims that he was an impostor. This tale aroused great curiosity and made Hauser an object of international attention. Furthermore, the stranger allegedly taught him to say the phrase "I want to be a cavalryman, as my father was" (in Old Bavarian dialect), but Hauser claimed that he did not understand what these words meant.
After learning to stand and walk, he was brought to Nuremberg. This man, Hauser said, taught him to write his name by leading his hand. Hauser claimed that the first human being with whom he ever had contact was a mysterious man who visited him not long before his release, always taking great care not to reveal his face to him. On such occasions, when he awakened, his straw was changed and his hair and nails were cut. Periodically the water would taste bitter and drinking it would cause him to sleep more heavily than usual. He claimed that he found rye bread and water next to his bed each morning. However the young man showed no sign of medical conditions such as rickets which would likely have resulted from such prolonged sunlight deprivation. According to this story, for as long as he could remember he spent his life totally alone in a darkened cell about two metres long, one metre wide and one and a half high with only a straw bed to sleep on and two horses and a dog carved out of wood for toys. Statue of Kaspar, old city centre, Ansbach, Germany Hauser's story about his life in a dungeonĪt first it was assumed that he was raised half-wild in forests, but during many conversations with Mayor Binder, Hauser told a different version of his past life, which he later also wrote down in more detail.
He refused all food except bread and water. Various curious people visited him to his apparent delight. Mayor Binder, however, claimed that the boy had an excellent memory and was learning quickly. He was of a "healthy facial complexion" and approximately 16 years old, but appeared to be intellectually impaired. Despite what many later accounts would say, he was in good physical condition and could walk well for example, he climbed over 90 steps to his room. He spent the following two months in Luginsland Tower in Nuremberg Castle in the care of a jailer named Andreas Hiltel. He showed that he was familiar with money, could say some prayers and read a little, but he answered few questions and his vocabulary appeared to be rather limited. Ī shoemaker named Weickmann took the boy to the house of Captain von Wessenig, where he would repeat only the words "I want to be a cavalryman, as my father was" and "Horse! Horse!" Further demands elicited only tears or the obstinate proclamation of "Don't know." He was taken to a police station, where he would write a name: Kaspar Hauser. In fact this letter was found to have been written by the same hand as the other one (whose line "he writes my handwriting exactly as I do" led later analysts to assume that Kaspar himself wrote both of them). It stated that his name was Kaspar, that he was born on 30 April 1812 and that his father, a cavalryman of the 6th regiment, was dead. There was another short letter enclosed purporting to be from his mother to his prior caretaker. The letter stated that the boy would now like to be a cavalryman "as his father was" and invited the captain either to take him in or to hang him. The anonymous author said that the boy was given into his custody as an infant on 7 October 1812 and that he instructed him in reading, writing and the Christian religion, but never let him "take a single step out of my house". Its heading read: Von der Bäierischen Gränz / daß Orte ist unbenant / 1828 ("From the Bavarian border / The place is unnamed / 1828").
He carried a letter with him addressed to the captain of the 4th squadron of the 6th cavalry regiment, Captain von Wessenig. On, a teenage boy appeared in the streets of Nuremberg, Germany.
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