Stanhope’s posthumous publication against Hauser is also a primary document, representing the views of someone who spent years in direct contact with him. The fact that Stanhope’s account strongly contradicts the picture that Hauser himself promoted does not make it conclusive, but it is evidence.
Court records from the inquiry into Hauser’s death exist. The inquiry concluded that the wound could have been self-inflicted but could not establish this definitively. The mirror-written note recovered at the Hofgarten is a physical artifact that has been examined for handwriting characteristics and is part of the documented record.
The DNA samples used in the 2024 study came from locks of hair in private collections with documented provenance histories. These histories have been examined by the researchers as part of the authentication process. The bloodstained clothing in the Ansbach museum represents a physical artifact preserved from the period of Hauser’s death.
None of these documents, taken together, resolve the fundamental question of his origin. They provide a detailed record of what happened between 1828 and 1833, and they provide, through the 2024 study, a highly reliable genetic result about one specific aspect of his ancestry. The gap between the surviving documentation and the full picture of who he was remains significant.
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## The Mirror-Written Note: A Detail That Divided Investigators
The note recovered from the bag that Hauser said the stranger handed him in the Hofgarten on December 14, 1833 is one of the most analyzed artifacts of the case.
Its distinctive feature was that it was written in mirror writing — text that reads normally when held to a mirror, reversed left-to-right when read directly. The practice was known in the period but unusual. It has been associated with certain kinds of secretive or encoded communication. Some investigators argued that mirror writing was a natural choice for a left-handed person or for someone attempting to conceal authorship.