There are enough mysterious personalities in history. Some of them are still the subject of research, while others, which once attracted the attention of society, were almost forgotten, but remained unsolved. The name of one of these mysterious personalities is Hauser Caspar. An obscure young man with the mind of a baby, who appeared in Nuremberg from nowhere and it is not clear why he was killed several years later.
Foundling
On one of the May days of 1828, two slightly tipsy shoemakers picked up a teenager of 14-16 years old with a hard-moving teenager in the Nuremberg square. He could not speak, but he held a letter in his hand addressed to the captain of the cavalry squadron captain von Wesnich. Pitying the unfortunate, the shoemakers took him to the captain's house.
Thus begins the story of one of the most mysterious figures of the XIX century. The boy was almost unable to walk and talk, and only repeated the phrase that he wanted to become a cavalryman, like his father. And he could write his name in clumsy handwriting.
Von Vesnykh, considering the teenager a rogue, took him to the police station, and the young man spent the next two months in prison.
Foolish or cunning deceiver?
Caspar was lucky, the prison servant Andreas Giltel took care of him, who not only did not offend and felt sorry for the strange teenager, but also taught him to communicate more or less clearly. The boy was examined by doctors, including forensic doctor Proy, who is engaged in scientific research. It was in prison that the legend of Caspar Hauser appeared.
The conclusions drawn from the observations of Giltel, a teacher at the Daumer Gymnasium, magistrate officials and Dr. Proy, were surprising.
Hauser Caspar was not a liar. Having learned to speak more or less clearly, he was able to tell that he spent most of his life either in a cage or in a small cell where he could only sit. An unknown person held him there. Then he taught Caspar to move around, pronounce a few phrases and write his name. After that he drove the young man to the outskirts of Nuremberg, gave him a letter and left.
The listeners of his incoherent muttering had no doubts about sincerity, and the story was confirmed by the incorrect structure of the leg bones and the level of mental development of the young man - he had the mind of a three-year-old child. But Caspar Hauser was not considered insane or demented.
A noble heir?
Who and why needed to keep the child in a cage? The inhabitants found an answer to this question right away - this child should be of very noble origin. Such an assumption fueled interest in an unusual young man who was released from prison, and for some time he lived in one house in the city, then in another.
The crowned family to which Caspar Hauser could belong was quickly discovered. In Nuremberg, they began to say that perhaps the foundling was the son of the adopted daughter of Napoleon Stephanie de Beauharnais and Karl, Duke of Baden. This child died in infancy under strange circumstances, and Caspar was quite suitable by age. However, the duke's family did not respond to these rumors, although there is inaccurate information that Stephanie nevertheless secretly saw the young man and recognized him like his father.
Although in this case it is completely incomprehensible why Caspar was brought to Nuremberg, and what kind of captain von Vesnykh has to do with it. But somehow they quickly forgot about the brave cavalryman.
The legend of Caspar Hauser is gradually overgrown with new details, but which of them were real and which generated the imagination of the townsfolk, now it’s impossible to figure it out. And the mystery of Caspar Hauser was not solved.
Strange end to a strange story
A year after the appearance in the city of Caspar, the young man made the first assassination attempt - an unknown person hit him on the head with a heavy object. Hauser survived, but the idle townspeople immediately associated this incident with the alleged belonging to the ducal family.
The young man was taken under the patronage of a noble Englishman, Lord Stenhope, who first tried to reveal Hauser's ability to psychic perception, and when this failed, he settled him in Ansbach under the supervision of his man.
Stenhope did not believe in the noble origin of Casper Hauser and in his prolonged imprisonment. And many educated people of that time, including doctors, also expressed doubt. For example, the famous psychiatrist Leongart believed that in such conditions the child, if he survives, then the changes in his psyche will be irreversible - he will turn into an idiot.
Two years after moving to Ansbach, Casper Hauser was killed. An unknown man stabbed him, after which the young man did not survive. For a while, society again started talking about the mysterious youth, but then new reasons for gossip appeared.
However, the history of Caspar Hauser is not forgotten, and in Ansbach he even put a monument to him.
The name of Caspar Hauser in the psychiatry of the XX century
In 1966, the name of this strange young man was named a special mental state that develops in people who in childhood find themselves in complete or partial isolation from the human community.
Caspar Hauser syndrome is manifested in the lag of mental development, the difficulties of social adaptation and increased sensitivity. In domestic psychology and psychiatry, this phenomenon is also known as the phenomenon of "children of Mowgli." If the kids were deprived of communication with adults in early childhood, then the changes in their psyche are irreversible, and they can never become full members of society.