King Kaspar Research Paper

History
On the 26th of May, 1828, there was a major holiday in Germany and the streets of Nuremberg were almost empty. Late in the afternoon, George Weickmann, a shoemaker, noticed a strange boy in his late teen years dressed in dirty peasant clothes and was walking strangely as if drunk. When approached by the shoemaker the boy held out an envelope addressed 'To the Honourable Captain of the Cavalry of the Fourth Squadron, of the Sixth Regiment of the Light Cavalry in Nuremberg.' On seeing the address Weickmann took the strange boy to the captain's house. When they arrived the captain was not home. Servants asked the two men to sit and wait. When offered beer and sausage, the boy spat it out immediately as if he had never tasted such things

A forensic physician's diagnosis was that Kaspar was not insane or epileptic like others thought, but had been kidnapped and removed from all human and social education. He also noted an abnormality of the bone structure of his knees, most likely due to not having stood up very often. It was also noticed that Kaspar was far more at night and was easily able to see in the dark. This all supports the information in the letter which was that most of Kaspar's life had been spent indoors with no contact with others. His diet continued to be two meals a day of water and black bread, because his stomach was unable to cope with anything else. Another thing about Kaspar that they noticed was that he was always very gentle, and completely trusting, and could not bear harm coming to even the smallest insect. He reacted as if it were the time he had seen life. He was delighted by the light of a candle, when a mirror was put in front of him; he tried to touch his own reflection tried to find the person he thought was inside the mirror. Any shiny object would grab his attention and he cried when he wasn't allowed to have it. At first Kaspar had no conception of humans or animals; and he called all animals horse because that was the only toy he had to play with in his

He gave Kaspar some books and told him he must learn to read and write, and go to his father who was a rider, and then he too would become a rider. Kaspar learnt how to read a little, to write his name, and say 'I want to be a soldier as my father was.' He was also taught how to stand up, and warned never to try and get out of the door of his room. One night, the man appeared and told him he was going to take him away. Kaspar didn't want to go but was again persuaded with promises of seeing his father and becoming a rider as he was. The man and Kaspar travelled until daybreak. When Kasper saw light for the first time and smelt things other than bread and his own BO he fainted, or was given opium again to make him sleep as he travelled. Later on the man put Kaspar down, and taught him to walk, which was difficult for him as he was barefoot and his feet were tender. On the third day the man made Kaspar change clothes and taught him a couple of prayers, and once again told him he would be a rider like his father. The food they ate on the journey was bread and water, as in his prison. Hauser was told to look only at the ground while he walked so as to keep from falling, this meant that he didn't see the surroundings as they travelled. As they drew near to Nuremberg, which the man called the 'big village', Kaspar was given the letter for the captain and told to go to the big village, the man saying he'd follow later. So Kaspar walked on