Kaspar Hauser: The Prince without a Past

Step into a 200-year-old mystery as we unravel the enigmatic life of Kaspar Hauser. A boy with no past, a tale shrouded in conspiracy, and a journey through intrigue and deception.

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[JustNormalGamers]

If you also really love the long episodes give this a like and let Simon know. When i see any whistlerverse vid over an hour i get very excited.

[justinmacdonald]

Dennis you freaking legend for writing a 3 hour episode.

[opulence_reviled]

the writer needs so much props for this one. big ups on him, this dude really threaded existential poetry into the dynamic between literary discourse and cultural hide and seek backed by mind-numbing academic research

[WallStreet]

I totally vote for Simon to read actual audio books and comment on them. “ what are the Hobbits up to, I don’t get it”

[tahlialysse]

I do think everyone jumps quickly to the "if his story wasn't true, he was a con artist" without an appropriate amount of room for the later conning being learned behavior. Like, he was surrounded by folks who *wanted* to believe something crazy and if he either had traumatic memories he didn't want to think about, or had a lack of memories, it's not impossible that the idea of maybe being a lost prince got planted in his mind. The events we know about also show a pattern that when he reinforces these off the wall things, life improves for him. So him trying to do other tall tales or orchestrate additional situations to make things better is very classic behavior that see from kids in these kinds of situations (and yes, even 17 is a kid for the sake of talking about development).

Idk, it just feels like jumping to the idea that it was him trying to do a con from the get-go, or having some big plan or scheme to it hardly seems like the simplest solution. He could have been an abused kid without being locked in a room, and he could have been mostly nonverbal from abuse while still knowing how to speak. It's not impossible to think that the letters he was left with were penned by some caregiver abandoning him, but wanting to give him some chance of being looked after by someone (they are vague and mostly seem to be suggesting that he be given a job rather than implying some big and important past).

Mostly I'm just saying that there's still plenty of grey area between "full big con job" and "he's completely innocent." He does seem to at least have some quickness and intelligence to him, so picking up on what he thinks people want to hear and trying to win good graces by telling it to them isn't too hard to buy for any smartish kid.

[oksuree]

I think he was actually abused and left alone in a room for months or years. That had put him in shock and once he started to remember he realized his best option was to play into people's assumptions. He was a victim who learned how to be what he needed to be in order to get what he wanted and survive.

[pioneercynthia]

Less than ten minutes in and this is already a hundred times better than a Dan Brown novel.

[jhonmcauliffe]

I've been watching for 2 hours before I realized I still had another hour plus to go. Didn't realize I was sitting here for 2 hours watching, so well done gentlemen and ladies.

[ineriswetrust]

The quality of writing is out of this world. How can you afford to have half a book written for a video? Great work, author!

[relaxedguy]

Love these long ones!! Julian calling out Whistle Boys flawless pronunciation of 'Effortlessly' actually had me laughing out loud. Well done Deniz, Julian, and Simon!! Keep 'em coming!

[frocat]

Simon, a lifelong European citizen, confused why Nuremburg would possibly be filled with replica buildings and landmarks. Meanwhile, me, a lifelong US citizen, looking at my monitor wondering how he forgot about WWII... Let's go, Factboi.

[lucyst]

Your knack for uploading just as I'm going to bed is absolutely top tier and I thank you for your service.

[ignitionfrn]

4:20 - Chapter 1 - The boy who lived
19:30 - Chapter 2 - A mayor mistake
34:05 - Chapter 3 - Mysterious masteries
49:00 - Chapter 4 - Coup d'état
59:15 - Chapter 5 - The boy who lived...again
1:11:55 - Chapter 6 - The sacred path of bull shido
1:21:35 - Chapter 7 - The fresh prince of nuremberg
1:37:55 - Chapter 8 - Lost in translation
1:53:30 - Chapter 9 - 3 strokes & you're out
2:08:35 - Theory A
2:09:00 - Theory B
2:09:30 - Theory C
2:10:00 - Chapter 10 - The boy who livn't
2:13:30 - The curious case of the purple purse
2:23:05 - Chapter 11 - Random game of thrones pun or something
2:34:25 - Chapter 12 - 50 shades of grey areas
2:47:35 - Chapter 13 - The hauser always wins, until he does not
2:59:20 - Chapter 14 - The wonders of stained underwear
3:04:10 - Cryptic allusions

[denizdix]

147.5 litres of beer were consumed during the making of this episode

[enlightendbel]

If that tour guide really knew Simons repertoire, he'd have known Simons retention of a lot of information is surprisingly and sometimes even disturbingly low.

[WallaWalla]

Biggest thing right off the bat, if he truly lived in a room where he couldn’t sit up let alone stand, there’s no way he’d be able to walk at all

[anna]

I think one thing Deniz is missing in his synopsis is the question of Hausers pre-con education. He wasn’t just a random peasant, he knew how to read and write in a reasonably fine hand or he would not have been able to craft the letters. He knew enough about the politics to concoct the story of the lost heir. This wasn’t a time of public education, schooling was the prerogative of the moneyed class. There were tradespeople and merchants who could have had the wherewithal to educate their children, but he still would have had to have come from a relatively privileged situation. So where did he come from?

[Stroheim]

Also, you should remember that the Kaspar Hauser case happened during the height of the Romantic era. People were fascinated by the exotic, mysterious and unknown. You had Romantic art, Romantic philosophy, Romantic science... Romantic scientists dabbled in electricity, magnetism and hypnosis and tried to combine it with occult and supernatural ideas. This is a very important background.

[karenshadle]

Simon, ever hear about the child Jeannie who was isolated in a totally dark room since she was less than 2 years old? With no family members allowed to talk with her? Rescued at age 13. Her language was severely impaired as were her abilities to interact with other humans. She was never able to focus her eyes past 10 feet as she'd never had to before because her dark room just 10'× 10. A very interesting story and ultimately a very sad one.

[David_K_Booth]

I saw Herzog's movie about Kaspar Hauser forty years ago, and, while I have a lot of respect for his work, it turns out there is much more to the story. I'm really impressed by how thoroughly Deniz has researched this. Thank you.