Quick Look
- This classic book tells the fascinating story of Kaspar Hauser's life
- A highly researched and engaging novelisation of the life, and mysterious death, of this remarkable figure
- 2012 is the 200th anniversary of Kaspar Hauser's birth
A classic book which tells the story of Kaspar Hauser's remarkable, short life and his effect on those who met him.
Description
In 1828, a ragged young man of about sixteen wandered into the city of Nuremberg in Germany. He could barely speak, and appeared to have been released from a strange captivity.
Many people at the time were drawn to him and felt great compassion, not just for his fate, but because of the impression his presence made on them. Kaspar Hauser had a remarkable purity and innocence, and people were touched by his sensitivity and perception. In 1833, he was stabbed and died in mysterious circumstances.
This classic book is a fascinating and engaging novelisation of Kaspar Hauser's remarkable, short life. Jakob Wassermann interviewed many people connected with Hauser to glean as much as detail as possible, to best try to understand the strange young man.
2012 is the 200th anniversary of Kaspar Hauser's birth.
Please note that throughout the book Kaspar Hauser is spelled 'Caspar Hauser', as it was originally published in 1928.
Reviews
'This is a welcome reprint of the 1928 Englished version of Wassermann's 1908 "novelisation" of the mysterious life and death of the iconic "boy from nowhere" … Later scholars … have recognised that Wassermann's portrait of the "innocent soul" … contains "deeper truths" and was closer to "Hauser's real being" than any other historical source.'
-- Fortean Times, Spring 2013
Author
Jakob Wassermann (1873-1934) was a Jewish-German writer. He was born near Nuremberg, the town where Kaspar Hauser appeared in 1828. Wassermann's grandfather had seen Hauser himself and spoke of the deep impression he had made. Wassermann's novel of Kaspar Hauser's story took fifteen years to complete and was published in 1908.
Links
You might also be interested in Karl König's thoughts on Kaspar Hauser:
Karl König and Kaspar Hauser
