Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach
Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach was a German legal scholar. His major achievement was a reform of the Bavarian penal code which led to the abolition of torture and became a model for several other countries. He is also well known for his research on Kaspar Hauser, who died the same year as Feuerbach.
Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach
Kaspar Hauser was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death from a stab wound, sparked much debate and controversy. Theories propounded at the time identified him as a member of the grand ducal House of Baden, hidden away because of royal intrigue. These opinions may or may not have been documented by later investigations. Other theories proposed that Hauser had been a fraud.
Hauser, 1830. Note the scar on the forehead, from a wound inflicted the year before.
Statue of Hauser, old city centre, Ansbach, Germany
Pencil drawing by Kaspar Hauser, 1829
A photograph of the note, in mirror writing. Contrast enhanced. The original has been missing since 1945.