Hauser

Hauser, Kaspar, a young German whose strange history excited a good deal of attention in the second quarter of the 19th century. In May, 1828, he appeared in Nuremberg dressed like a young peasant, with a letter to an officer in the town. According to his story, he had passed his life sitting in a cage, and had been fed on bread and water by a man who also taught him how to write. This man had at length clothed him and brought him to Nuremberg, and had then disappeared. Fifteen months later he received a wound on his forehead which he attributed to the same person, of whom, however, no trace could be found. Hauser now became one of the sights of the town, and, having been visited by Lord Stanhope, was adopted by that nobleman and sent to Ansbach to be educated. He at first made great progress, but soon began to deteriorate both mentally and morally, until in December, 1833, he was again wounded, this time in the side, but, as be said, by the same man. Three days after he died, and the mystery remained unsolved. It appears probable that he was either the victim of a ruthless parent or enemy, or else was a madman. Some believed him to be heir to the throne of Baden, but the government produced in 1875 documentary evidence in disproof of the assertion.