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## A Final Accounting: What We Know, What We Don’t
Bringing together everything that can be responsibly said about Kaspar Hauser on the basis of the documented evidence, including the 2024 DNA study, produces a picture that is more precise than it was before 2024, but still far from complete.
What is known: A person named Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg on May 26, 1828. He carried letters of uncertain origin. He had unusual physical characteristics. He acquired language and social skills over five years. He was investigated by Feuerbach, patronized by Stanhope, and housed in succession by multiple caregivers. He suffered injuries in 1829 and 1830. He died on December 17, 1833, from a wound sustained three days earlier in the Hofgarten at Ansbach. He is buried in Ansbach with an inscription acknowledging that his birth and death are both unknown. His mitochondrial DNA is haplogroup W. The Baden prince theory is excluded by that genetic finding. The earlier Münster result to the contrary was most likely a contamination artifact.
What is not known: His actual name or family origin. Where he was born. Who his parents were. Whether the account he gave of his childhood was substantially accurate. Whether the conditions he described were real. Who stabbed him in December 1833, if anyone did. Whether Feuerbach’s death was connected to his investigation.
What was once believed that is now excluded: That he was the hereditary prince of Baden, the son of Stéphanie de Beauharnais, removed from the succession by or at the direction of the Countess of Hochberg. That claim is genetically excluded.