(Dietersdorf near Neunburg 1843 – 1908 Regensburg)

The peddler, born out of wedlock, caused a stir in 1890 at St. Michael's Church in Munich and was first admitted to the city's district lunatic asylum, then to the Regensburg asylum, where he remained until his death. He suffered from hallucinations, heard voices, and thought he was in an establishment for the “purification of the soul.” In Kleber's head, the voices of his mother, the Bavarian King Ludwig, and God the Father argued about whose child he was. In the asylum, he began writing prayers and inventing machines, including a perpetual motion machine. Later, he created many useful objects out of found materials.

Over the span of nine years (1898-1908), Kleber compiled a 60-page book of torn-out newspaper texts. He used chewed bread as the glue. His texts are mostly unintelligible, as he largely neglected the usual sentence structure and punctuation. However, he undoubtedly wanted them to be about religion, philosophy, civic duty, and politics. He spent a great deal of effort on imitating a printed book – no doubt an expression of his desire to be taken seriously, beyond the walls of the psychiatric institution.