In eighteen twenty-eight, a teenage boy appeared in the streets of Nuremberg barely able to walk or speak. He said he had spent his entire life alone in a small dark room, fed through a slot in the wall, with only a wooden horse for company. He could say almost nothing except: I want to be a cavalry rider, as my father was. Within months he was fluent, intelligent, and the subject of a European sensation. Within five years, someone had killed him.

In this episode of 5 Minute Strange, we cover Kaspar Hauser's impossible origin story, the two attempts on his life, and the theory that he was a kidnapped prince of the House of Baden — removed as an infant to prevent him inheriting a throne. His last words reportedly included: I didn't do it myself. His identity was never confirmed. His killer was never found.

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