Klingenberg — the death of Anneliese Michel, 1976

OVERVIEW

Anna Elisabeth 'Anneliese' Michel (1952–1976), a student of religious education, died at her parents' home in Klingenberg am Main of the effects of extreme malnutrition. In the months before her death two Catholic priests had performed the Great Exorcism on her 67 times. The case, known as the 'Exorcism of Klingenberg', changed how the Catholic Church in Germany practises exorcism.

HISTORY

Diagnosed at 16 with temporal lobe epilepsy and later treated for depression and psychosis, she described seeing 'devil faces', heard voices telling her she was damned, and became unable to bear crucifixes and sacred places. After five years of medication without improvement she and her family became convinced she was possessed. Several priests declined and urged medical treatment; Father Ernst Alt came to believe in possession, and in September 1975 Bishop Josef Stangl of Würzburg authorised the Salvatorian Arnold Renz to perform the Roman Ritual, in secret. The family stopped consulting doctors. Sessions of up to four hours, once or twice a week, went on for about ten months; she refused food toward the end. She died on 1 July 1976 weighing 30 kg, with broken knees from genuflections; Alt himself called the authorities that day and the autopsy was done the same day.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

At the trial in Aschaffenburg from 30 March 1978, doctors testified she was not possessed; the defence played tapes of the sessions, and the priests said six demons had named themselves, including Lucifer, Cain, Judas, Nero and Hitler. On 21 April 1978 the court, going well beyond the prosecutor's request, convicted the parents and both priests of negligent homicide: six months each, suspended for three years — they should have called a doctor. Her body was exhumed in the Klingenberg cemetery on 25 February 1978, apparently after a lay sister claimed a vision that it was incorrupt; officials present confirmed decay consistent with its age. In 2005 the German Bishops' Conference said the setting of the exorcism had prevented any medical intervention. A 2013 fire beside the family's former sawmill was blamed on Satanists; it was set by a local firefighter.

VISITING

The pin marks the town cemetery, where her grave has drawn pilgrims. It is a grave, and her family's home town: visit with respect.