Anneliese Michel was born Anna Elisabeth Michel on September 21, 1952 in Leiblfing, Bavaria, West Germany. Her family were devout traditional Roman Catholics, and attended Mass twice a week. Growing up, Anneliese expressed the desire to become a teacher, and teach the principles of the catholic religion.
Anneliese had not been the most healthy of children. Before the age of 5 she had suffered mumps, measles, and scarlet fever. She was considered a fragile child, and so did not start school at the same time as other children her age, instead remaining home one extra year until she was stronger.
Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Anneliese blacked out at school and began walking around dazed. Although she did not remember the incident, her friends and family both reported that she had been in an odd trance-like state. Later that day, just after midnight, Anneliese woke up in bed, unable to move. She lost control of her bladder, causing her to wet the bed. Her breathing was labored and her tongue felt sore. While the moment passed quickly, it still left her terrified.
The incident, while not inconsequential, was soon forgotten, that is until almost a year later, on August 24, 1969 when Anneliese suffered another blackout followed by paralysis that same day. Her mother took her to the family doctor the next day, who referred her to a neurologist for further testing. She met doctor Luthy and underwent an EEG, which determined her brain activity was normal. The doctor concluded she was likely suffering cerebral seizures with symptoms of grand mal epilepsy. No medication was prescribed.
Shortly after her visit with the neurologist, she suffered from a terrible sore throat, which resulted in the removal of her tonsils. Then she came down with pneumonia, which was further complicated by a tuberculosis infection. She became so ill, she had to stop attending school, and was confined to her bed.
On February 28, 1970, when her condition had still not improved, Anneliese was admitted to a clinic in Mittleberg, which specialized in treating lung disease in young people. Before long, it was determined that she had heart and circulatory problems.
On June 3, 1970, Anneliese experienced her third episode. Again she went to a neurologist and underwent an EEG. This time the results showed irregular alpha (deep relaxation) wave patterns as well as scattered delta (deep sleep) and theta (light meditation & sleeping) waves in her brain. She was finally prescribed anticonvulsant medication, marking this the start of her epilepsy treatment.
Back at the clinic, Anneliese experienced her first demonic vision. It came to her as she was praying, a large ghastly, grimacing, and cruel face that called itself “Fratzen” which is German for grimaces. While she had always maintained her devout religious habits, after this experience, she stopped praying, for fear the demon would appear to her again. She began to wonder if the demon was inside her, and perhaps causing her episodes and other illnesses. Anneliese began to consider suicide.
On August 29, 1970, she was finally released from the clinic. Her family noted that when she returned home, she was not the same girl as when she had left. She was depressed, and withdrawn. Anneliese was able to return to school, but her grades were only average. And then, she suffered another episode (seizure).
She went back to see the doctor, who confirmed her circulatory problems and prescribed her more anticonvulsants. It is unclear whether she took her medication, as her health and mental state continued to decline. She lost interest in school though she tried to study to please her mother. Her episodes continued and grew increasingly more severe. She went back to Dr. Luthy who prescribed more anticonvulsants and recommended she return regularly for checkups.
Although she returned every few months, she did not confide to Dr. Luthy that her episodes were increasing, and that she was having more blackouts. She also did not tell him that she could smell a horrible stench that no one else around her could smell. Anneliese believed her medication was contributing to her loss of interest, and lack of energy.
Her demonic visions continued, becoming more frequent. The stench was growing stronger, or lingering longer, smelling of burning feces, or rotting flesh. Voices came to her and told her she was damned to Hell, and she could hear knocking sounds in her bedroom, that no one else could hear.
Despite all this, Anneliese was able to maintain some semblance of a normal life, even having a boyfriend. However over the next two years, she still found herself visiting various doctors, who all prescribed anticonvulsants, and added in something for her worsening psychosis.
While she was finishing up her exams at school, her symptoms escalated. The voices and visions grew increasingly worse and she began to experience difficulty speaking and walking. This only added to her ongoing depression.
One night over dinner, Anneliese’s hands reportedly swelled up to a huge size. She cried out, “I have black hands… My Saviour, forgive me!” At the same time, she could see diabolical faces on the wall which she described as having “7 crowns and 7 horns.”
It was around this time that her mother reportedly caught Anneliese staring at a statue of the Virgin Mary in their home, and her eyes were jet black, and her hands looked like paws with claws.
Her father took her to the shrine, the Mother of God of San Damiano. There, Anneliese claimed the ground burned her feet and she was unable to enter the chapel. The water also burned her, and she tore her rosary. Her father bought her a saint medal, but she refused to wear it, claiming it suffocated her. During this time, she spoke with a voice so deep, she sounded like a man, and she exuded a foul odor.
In 1975, Anneliese’s grandmother passed away, her sisters left home to pursue their careers, and she got worse. She found it even more difficult to study, and even confided in her boyfriend, Peter, that she felt she was eternally damned, though she did not know why.
Anneliese developed an aversion to holy objects and stopped going to church. She was hardly able to walk, and began suffering episodes where her face and body contorted. Peter began telling others that she was possessed, and she started throwing things, seemingly uncontrollably, at both him and others. It was then that she pleaded for Father Alt to come to her aid.
Father Alt arrived on July 1, and found Anneliese hysterical. He sat down beside her and mentally commanded, “Depart from her! Say who you are!”
Anneliese flew into a frenzy, grabbing herself by the neck and destroying her rosary. This caused great concern, as it was believed that only the most powerful demons could destroy holy objects. Father Alt and Father Roth, who had been summoned by Anneliese’s father, witnessed her rages where she would curse and attack, growling like an animal, and exuding that awful stench.
Together they appealed to Bishop Stangl for permission to perform the exorcism.
Once they received permission, Father Alt and Father Roth proceeded to perform the Ritual of Catholic Exorcism, or the Roman Ritual of 1614, marking August 3, 1975 as Anneliese’s first exorcism. As soon as it began, the demons spoke through Anneliese in deep guttural voices. This instant demonic response was atypical in the exorcist’s experiences.
The priests were unprepared, and struggled to comprehend the rapidity with which she spoke. This led them to recording everything for the Bishop and others to study. Anneliese herself requested the tapes be made public, to show the world that there was a devil.
Finally, in the autumn of 1973, she found Father Ernst Alt. Father Alt approached her case with great skepticism, believing a baptized person could not become possessed. However, he had an empathic connection to Anneliese, and was inclined to believe she was surrounded by evil, and possibly even possession. Together, she and Father Alt talked and prayed, and afterwards, she appeared to be better, even just temporarily.
On September 30, 1974, Father Alt wrote his superior, Bishop Stangl, asking for permission to say the prayer of exorcism over her, but Stangl refused. He believed Anneliese needed more medical help. It was also at this time that Dr. Luthy asserted that Anneliese had become incapable of making decisions for herself.
During this short rite, six demons revealed themselves; Lucifer, Judas, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and Fleishman. According to some paranormal experts, these names may not reflect the exact names of the demons possessing Anneliese, but rather names chosen that would incite fear and dread. Regardless, the atrocities they carried out against Anneliese were beyond awful.
At home, Anneliese spoke in tongues, and attacked family members with inhuman strength. She bucked around like a goat and screamed incessantly. Family witnessed her bark like a dog, bite the head off of a dead bird and she even ate flies, spiders, and coal. She would tear off her clothing, complaining she was burning up inside, then stick her head in icy water and in the toilet.
Anneliese would urinate on the kitchen floor, then lick it up, or even chew on urine soaked panties. She destroyed religious objects, and attacked priests that arrived to see her with verbal abuse and blows. It was reported that great masses of flies would appear inside the house, and then vanish just as suddenly, and shadowy animals could be spotted scurrying around.
Anneliese would tell the priests she could see demons dancing around them in mockery, and would also be thrown to the ground, or from wall to wall by some unseen force. Her body was always covered in bruises.
The extreme nature of Anneliese’s case encouraged Father Adolf Rodewyk of Frankfurt agree to see her in person. When he met with her, he asked for her name, and she replied, “Judas,” identifying the name of the demon. Rodewyk believed that she had in fact, been possessed by a demon named Judas, and had other demons participating as well.
Rodewyk suggested they perform the Rituale Romanum, a 2-hour ritual during which demons must speak through the mouth of the possessed and truthfully answer certain questions put to them.
Bishop Stangl gave permission for the Rituale Romanum to be performed, and chose Father Arnold Renz, a Salvatorian superior at a monastery in Ruck-Scheppach, to perform the rite. Although Father Renz had never performed an exorcism, he was very knowledgeable on the subject, and the first rite was performed at the Michel home on September 24, 1975.
Anneliese had to be held down by three men as she struggled, kicked, and attempted to bite. She swore at them, and screamed when she was sprinkled with holy water. The next exorcism took place on September 28, and from then on, all sessions were recorded. During one session, the demons present said that Anneliese had been cursed by a jealous neighbor woman before she was even born. The family was never able to verify this, as the neighbor had died.
The exorcisms continued, and even affected those in attendance, as though the demons wished to make it more difficult for them to participate. During the exorcisms, Judas was the primary mouthpiece, followed by Lucifer. Nero and Fleishman, participated, but Cain and Hitler had very little to say.
Father Alt found records of Fleishman, who had been a priest in Ettleben in the 16th century. He was a drunk, a womanizer, and a batterer. He had also killed a man. Speaking to the demon through Anneliese, he was able to give details of his life that were in the records, but there was no way Anneliese could have known. She referred to him as “The Black One.”
It seemed that the demonic activity within Anneliese increased during times when she had her medications renewed. One afternoon, she took a walk outside in the woods with Peter. At some point, she wandered off on her own, in a trance like state. When she came to, she claimed to
have walked alongside the Virgin Mary, and she told her that, “It pains my heart that so many souls are going to Hell. Someone needs to do penance… Would you like to do penance for the souls so that they do not enter Hell?”
Anneliese said she was given just three days to consider the Virgin Mary’s offer. During this time, she felt so much better than she had in a very long time, as though she were herself again. She believed that the Virgin Mary had relieved her of her possession while she considered her offer.
She was prepared to accept, and become a martyr, but her parents were even more afraid now than ever before. They tried to dissuade her, but Anneliese could not be moved. She explained that although the Virgin Mary would return to expel the demons on October 31 if she did not accept the offer, she felt she needed to do more.
When October 31 came, the priests found the demons to be unusually passive. They took this opportunity to perform an intensive session of exorcism. The demons cried out in agony, and when the priests began to pray to the Virgin Mary, Anneliese let out a chilling cry.
In the end, the priests were able to convince the demons to leave one by one all while vomiting and protesting before surrendering. Anneliese felt so relieved, saying, “I am completely free now… completely free. It’s so wonderful… completely free.”
Her freedom was short-lived, however, as fifteen minutes later, all six of the demons had returned, claiming that as much as they wanted to leave, they were bound to Anneliese. They would scream that they want to go out, but were not allowed to.
In January 1976, Anneliese told everyone that something would change in July. As time went on, the pain she endured grew steadily to the point that on May 30, Father Alt reached out to Dr. Richard Roth and asked him if he would prescribe some medication for Anneliese that would soothe her pain. “I can’t give medication to a possessed person because I do not know how it might affect them.” Dr. Roth said, “There is no injection against the devil.”
Despite his inability to prescribe medication, Dr. Roth did agree to examine Anneliese. What he found was stigmata marks on her legs, that later spread to her hands. Her body was decaying, despite the copious amounts of food she was eating. She became dangerously thin, and lost all color.
Despite being asked if she would like to see another doctor, she declined, believing there was nothing a doctor could do for her. Her family was concerned, but recalled that she had been in this condition before, and had returned to health just days later. But it did not appear to be the case this time.
July 1, 1976, after 67 exorcisms, some which lasted up to four hours, and 42 of which had been recorded, 23 year old Anneliese Michel closed her eyes for the last time. Dr. Kehler, the family physician saw to her, and said her death was not due to natural causes. However after an autopsy was conducted, her official cause of death was ruled starvation.
Anneliese weighed a mere 30kg (66 pounds) and had suffered broken knees due to continuous genuflections. Her brain showed no signs of damage, characteristic of epileptic seizures, nor was her body covered with sores, which was typical of starvation. It was noted that her pupils were greatly dilated, which was known to be a characteristic of those who are in a religious altered state of consciousness.
The death of Anneliese Michel was cause for great controversy. People just could not believe that a young woman could be killed by demons. The state agreed and initiated an investigation that concluded in July 1977 when indictments for negligent homicide were issued against Father Alt, Father Renz, and Anneliese’s parents. The state prosecutor maintained that her death could have been prevented, even one week before she died.
The trial was scheduled to begin on March 30, 1978, but before that, a Carmelite nun came forward and said that Anneliese was communicating with her from beyond the grave. She wanted her body to be exhumed on February 25, 1978, and her body would not be putrefied to prove the existence of demons, God, the Mother of God, other spiritual beings, eternal life, resurrection, and Hell. The nun also said that Anneliese had died as a penance to benefit Germany, its youth, and its priests. God would resurrect her.
Her parents were successful in having her body disinterred on the requested date, using the excuse that they wished to transfer her remains to a better coffin. Her parents were not allowed to view her body, and photos taken of her by police were never released. When Father Renz tried to gain access to view her body, he was immediately turned away at the mortuary door.
Officials, including the mayor, claimed that Anneliese’s remains were badly decomposed, contradicting what the nun had foretold.
During the trial, court doctors testified that Anneliese had not been possessed, that her behavior was the result of her strict religious upbringing and her epilepsy. One medical expert stated that she should have been immobilized with tranquilizers, force-fed, and given electroshock therapy.
However, defense retorted, claiming the exorcism was legal and the German constitution protected its citizens in the unrestricted exercise of their religious beliefs. They played the tapes recorded during their exorcism sessions, pointing out the times when it was evident that demons were “arguing.”
Bishop Stangl refused to testify, claiming that he was not aware of her alarming health condition when he approved her exorcism.
Father Alt, Father Renz, and both of Anneliese’s parents were found guilty of negligent homicide. Despite the prosecution’s request for leniency, they had asked that the priests only be fined and that the parents be found guilty but not punished, the court sentenced all four to six months in jail plus three years of probation (which was later suspended).
Despite reports that Anneliese had, in fact, taken her medication, many believe she was simply ill and required further medical attention. Others, fully believe she was possessed. What do you believe?
Here’s the story of another poor girl, whose family believed she needed an exorcism. The Devil in Amora