Hiasl, whose real name was Josef Wiesmeth, was born on January 23, 1881 in Winzer near Regensburg. He originally learned the profession of stonemason. During the 24 years that he lived in his cave, however, he worked as a basket weaver and was paid primarily in kind. However, the real reasons for his migration into the nature of the Labertal are not known. However, it is assumed that he sought solitude because of an unhappy love affair or an argument with his father. The furnishings of his cave: a wooden porch, a kerosene lamp for lighting, his bed - a straw bag with a blanket on wooden slats, his kitchen - a self-made oven, tin dishes, a stool, two boxes for tools, supplies and belongings. His housemates were hedgehogs and mice. The Hiasl earned his living as a craftsman. He wove many a Kirm (back stretcher) and Kretzn (baskets) out of willow branches, hazelnut branches and spruce roots, or he carved rakes. He also repaired broken items that people brought to him. His customers, the farmers and citizens of the area, mostly paid in kind: bread, milk, butter, smoked meat, boiled potatoes, desserts and beer. He bought tobacco and rum and other supplies from his pension, which he received because of a war injury from World War I, in the Scheck general store on the main street in Beratzhausen. During the winter, when the temperatures no longer allowed him to sleep in the cave, the Hiasl spent the nights in the Friesenmühle stable. After the Second World War, the “caveman” became an attraction for the Americans stationed here, who gave him gifts and took photos of him. The cave dweller was spared from illness for many years until he had to be taken to the Parsberg district hospital in the fall of 1948. A document from the hospital shows that the “basket weaver Josef Wiesmeth, a Catholic, who lived in a rock cave in the municipality of Mausheim, died on October 19, 1948.”