I didn´t want to do a remake of Herzog´s film about Kaspar Hauser. (...) For Herzog, Kaspar Hauser was merely a point of departure for telling his own story about education and „becoming human“. What´s more, Herzog had removed the political elements of the affair, thus reinforcing the legend surrounding Hauser that had brought him to Nüremberg. Herzog couldn´t tell the story otherwise because, in 1974, certain aspects and facts about the affair hadn´t yet come to light. (...)
During the past 15 years, our knowledge of what really happened has greatly increased. As for the political background, this story is especially fascinating. Kaspar Hauser is a figure who generates a great deal of emotional power, an individual whom we can ideally identify with because he incarnates a great, pure sense of humanity.