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Cause of death Residence Known for Mysterious origins and untimely death Kaspar Hauser (30 April 1812 (?) – 17 December 1833) was a youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death by stabbing, sparked much debate and controversy. Theories propounded at the time linked him with the grand ducal and proposed his birth had been hidden as part of royal intrigue. These opinions have long since been rejected by historians, and many argued during and after Hauser's life that he was most likely a. Statue of Kaspar, old city centre, Ansbach, Germany Hauser's story about his life in a dungeon At first it was assumed that he was raised 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. 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. He claimed that he found rye bread and water next to his bed each morning.
Zac Weber's rating of the film O Enigma de Kaspar Hauser Zac Weber The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser is a strange and beautiful film that displays Werner Herzog's personal sense of detachment from the mores of 'civilized' society. Jul 10, 2009 - You know who you are, O my droogs and Zapkinder. FIN de Partie. On youtube> is ripped directly from a TV broadcast, a DVD, or a torrent file. One of which is the truly brilliant Enigma of Kaspar Hauser> by Herzog.
Periodically the water would taste bitter and drinking it would cause him to sleep more heavily than usual. On such occasions, when he awakened, his straw was changed and his hair and nails were cut. 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. This man, Hauser said, taught him to write his name by leading his hand. After learning to stand and walk, he was brought to Nuremberg.
Furthermore, the stranger allegedly taught him to say the phrase 'I want to be a cavalryman, as my father was' (in ), but Hauser claimed that he did not understand what these words meant. This tale aroused great curiosity and made Hauser an object of international attention. Rumours arose that he was of princely parentage, possibly of Baden origin, but there were also claims that he was an. Pencil drawing by Kaspar Hauser, 1829 Further life in Nuremberg , president of the Bavarian, began to investigate the case. Hauser was formally adopted by the town of Nuremberg and money was donated for his upkeep and education. He was given into the care of, a schoolmaster and speculative philosopher, who taught him various subjects and who thereby discovered his talent for drawing. He appeared to flourish in this environment.
Daumer also subjected him to treatments. As Feuerbach told the story, 'When Professor Daumer held the north pole of a magnet towards him, Kaspar put his hand to the pit of his stomach, and, drawing his waistcoat in an outward direction, said that it drew him thus; and that a current of air seemed to proceed from him. The south pole affected him less powerfully; and he said that it blew upon him.' Cut wound On 17 October 1829, Hauser did not come to the midday meal, but was found in the cellar of Daumer's house bleeding from a cut wound on the forehead. He asserted that while sitting on the privy, he was attacked and wounded by a hooded man who also threatened him with the words: 'You still have to die ere you leave the city of Nuremberg.' Hauser said that by the voice, he recognized the man as the one who had brought him to Nuremberg.
As was obvious from his blood trail, Hauser at first fled to the first floor where his room was, but then, instead of moving on to his caretakers, he returned downstairs and climbed through a trap door into the cellar. Alarmed officials called for a police escort and transferred him to the care of Johann Biberbach, one of the municipal authorities. The alleged attack on Hauser also fueled rumours about his possible descent from Hungary, England or the House of Baden.
Hauser's critics are of the opinion that he inflicted the wound on himself with a razor, which he then took back to his room before going to the cellar. He might have done so to arouse pity and thus escape chiding for a recent quarrel with Daumer, who had come to believe that the boy had a tendency to lie. Kaspar Hauser, 1830 The 'pistol accident' On 3 April 1830, a pistol shot went off in Hauser's room at the Biberbachs' house. His escort hurriedly entered the room and found him bleeding from a wound to the right side of his head.
Hauser quickly revived and stated that he climbed on a chair to get some books, the chair fell and while trying to hold on to something he accidentally tore down the pistol hanging on the wall, causing the shot to go off. There are doubts whether the benign wound was actually caused by the shot and some authors associate the incident with a preceding quarrel in which, again, Hauser was reproached for lying. Whatever the case, the occurrence led the municipal authorities to come to another decision on Hauser, whose initially good relationship with the Biberbach family had soured.
In May 1830, he was transferred to the, who later also complained about Hauser's exorbitant vanity and lies. Perhaps the sharpest judgment passed on Hauser was the one by Mrs. Biberbach, who commented on his 'horrendous mendacity' and 'art of dissimulation' and called him 'full of vanity and spite'. Lord Stanhope A British nobleman, took an interest in Hauser and gained custody of him late in 1831. He spent a great deal of money attempting to clarify Hauser's origin. In particular, he paid for two visits to hoping to jog the boy's memory, as Hauser seemed to remember some Hungarian words and had once declared that the Hungarian Countess Maytheny was his mother.
Hauser failed to recognize any buildings or monuments in Hungary. A Hungarian nobleman who had met Hauser later told Stanhope that he and his son had a good laugh when they recollected the strange boy and his behavior. Stanhope later wrote that the complete failure of these inquiries led him to doubt Hauser's credibility. In December 1831, he transferred Hauser to, to the care of a schoolmaster named Johann Georg Meyer, and in January 1832, Stanhope left Hauser for good. Stanhope continued to pay for Hauser's living expenses but never made good on his promise that he would take him to England.
After Hauser's death, Stanhope published a book in which he presented all known evidence against Hauser, taking it as his 'duty openly to confess that I had been deceived.' Followers of Hauser suspect Stanhope of ulterior motives and connections to the House of Baden, but academic historiography defends him as a philanthropist, a pious man and a seeker of truth. Life and death in Ansbach Schoolmaster Meyer, a strict and pedantic man, disliked Hauser's many excuses and apparent lies and their relationship was thus rather strained. In late 1832, Hauser was employed as a copyist in the local law office. Still hoping that Stanhope would take him to England, he was very dissatisfied with his situation, which deteriorated further when his patron, Anselm von Feuerbach, died in May 1833.
This certainly was a grievous loss to him. Some authors, however, point out that Feuerbach, by the end of his life, had lost faith in Hauser—writing a note, to be found in his legacy, which read: 'Caspar Hauser is a smart scheming codger, a rogue, a good-for-nothing that ought to be killed.' But there is no indication that Feuerbach, already seriously ill, let Hauser feel this change of opinion. On 9 December 1833, Hauser had a serious argument with Meyer.
Lord Stanhope was expected to visit Ansbach at Christmas and Meyer said that he did not know how he would face him. Fatal stab wound.
Hic jacet Casparus Hauser Aenigma sui temporis ignota nativitas occulta mors MDCCCXXXIII Hauser was buried in the Stadtfriedhof (city cemetery) in Ansbach, where his headstone reads, in Latin, 'Here lies Kaspar Hauser, riddle of his time. His birth was unknown, his death mysterious.
A monument to him was later erected in the Court Garden which reads Hic occultus occulto occisus est, meaning 'Here a mysterious one was killed in a mysterious manner.' Medical opinions Hauser's various accounts of the story of his incarceration include several contradictions. Psychiatrist concluded: 'If he had been living since childhood under the conditions he describes, he would not have developed beyond the condition of an idiot; indeed he would not have remained alive long. His tale is so full of absurdities that it is astonishing that it was ever believed and is even today still believed by many people.' Heidenreich, one of the physicians present at the autopsy, claimed that the brain of Kaspar Hauser was notable for small cortical size and few, non-distinct cortical gyri, indicating to some that he suffered from cortical atrophy or, as G. Hesse argued, from.
Heidenreich may have been influenced by his ideas when examining Hauser's brain. Albert, who conducted the autopsy and wrote the official report, did not find any anomalies in Hauser's brain. Karl Leonhard rejected the views of both Heidenreich and Hesse. He came to the following conclusion: 'Kaspar Hauser was, as other authors already opined, a pathological swindler. In addition to his he probably had the persistence of a since he was able to play his role so imperturbably. From many reports on his behaviour one can recognise the hysterical as well as the paranoid trend of his personality.'
A 1928 medical study supported the view that Hauser accidentally stabbed himself too deeply, while a 2005 forensic analysis argued that it seems 'unlikely that the stab to the chest was inflicted exclusively for the purpose of self-damage, but both a suicidal stab and a homicidal act (assassination) cannot be definitely ruled out.' Hauser as hereditary prince of Baden.