Kaspar Hauser Monument

The Kaspar Hauser Monument stands on a small square in the Ansbach old town, close to the palace, and marks one of the 19th century's most enduring mysteries. Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg in 1828 — a young man who could barely speak, dressed in peasant clothes, carrying a letter addressed to a cavalry captain. He claimed to have spent his life confined in a small dark cell. He was taught to read and write, and his intelligent adaptation to society attracted worldwide attention and speculation about his origins.

The monument — a stone column topped with the figure of Hauser — was erected in 1873. The court garden where he was stabbed in 1833 is a short walk away, and his grave in the Stadtfriedhof (city cemetery) carries one of the most enigmatic epitaphs in Germany. Ansbach takes its association with Hauser seriously: there is a Kaspar Hauser Festival every four years and a small museum dedicated to him.

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A story
Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg in 1828 — a teenager who could barely speak, claiming to have spent his entire life in a dark cell. He was taken in by the authorities, learned to speak and write rapidly, and became a European celebrity. Whether he was the hereditary Prince of Baden concealed to allow a rival succession, or an elaborate fraud, was never determined. His grave in Ansbach's city park reads: "Here lies Kaspar Hauser, riddle of his time. His birth was unknown, his death mysterious."

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