Who Is Caspar Hauser?
Kaspar Hauser (variously spelled with C and K in both English and German) was one of the great enigmas of the 19th century, a so called “wild child”. On 26 May 1828, Kaspar was brought before the authorities in Nürnberg, apparently bewildered and incoherent. With him he had a letter purporting to have been written by a labourer, into whose custody, it stated, the boy had been delivered on 7 October 1812, with the provision that he should be instructed in reading, writing and the Christian religion but kept in close confinement. Enclosed with this letter was one purporting to have been written by the boy’s mother, giving his name and his date of birth (30 April 1812) and stating that his father was a deceased cavalry officer. The boy could only say a few words, and kept repeating one phrase variously reported as “I want to be like my father” and “I want to be a rider like my father”. Kaspar was under five feet tall, broad shouldered, yet physically delicate, with blue eyes and curly, li
