On Whit Monday 1828 a strange youth, barely able to speak and hardly able to walk appeared in Nuremberg. This new case of a 'wild man' excited widespread curiosity, and many prominent figures wanted to test their pedagogical and medical theories on such a promising subject. Who was he? Was he, as many claimed, the rightful heir to the Grand Duchy of Baden, or was he simply an ingenious fraud? This book examines the many ramifications of this fascinating case, and offers many insights into the social, political and intellectual life of Biedermeier Germany.