Early life

Born in Leiblfing, Bavaria. Anneliese Michel was raised in the small Bavarian town of Klingenberg am Main, where her father operated a sawmill. Her parents were strict Catholics and she grew into a deeply religious person.

Hospitalization

In 1968, Anneliese began suffering from seizures and was diagnosed as epileptic at the Psychiatric Clinic in W�rzburg. She remained hospitalized for almost two years, and eventually began seeing demonic faces during her daily prayers. Suffering from major seizures, Anneliese returned to secondary school in the fall of 1970, was still able to go to the University of W�rzburg in September 1973, where she studied Elementary Education.

In addition to the images that haunted her in the hospital, Anneliese began to hear voices. Coming from a strict Catholic background and lacking any other explanation, Anneliese began to attribute her condition to demonic possession. She grew increasingly frustrated with medical intervention as it did not seem to affect her core problems. When, after four years of medical treatment, her condition and mental depression worsened, she and her parents apparently became convinced that demons or the devil had possessed her.

Exorcism and death

By summer of 1973, Anneliese's family turned to the local church for cure, inquiring different priests if they would perform an exorcism on their daughter. They all refused because the Infestatio (proof of possession) is very specific on the criteria that must be fulfilled. Some of the crucial elements include an aversion to religious objects, speaking in languages the person never learned, and evidence of supernatural powers.

The diagnosis that she was possessed was first made by a local parish priest, Father Ernst Alt, known as a specialist in exorcism, ultimately making the way for the exorcism request for Anneliese being eventually approved by Bishop Josef Stangl of W�rzburg in 1975. Bishop Stangl appointed Pastor Arnold Renz to carry out the ancient formal rites of exorcism - the Rituale Romanum of 1614 - with the help of Father Ernst Alt.

Eleven months before she died, all medical treatment of Anneliese stopped, and the rites of exorcism were carried out secretly in the bedroom of her parent's home during one-hour sessions. Through the course of these often taped sessions, Anneliese presented what she claimed were six separate demons possessing her, including Lucifer, Cain, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Legion, and Belial. She also claimed to be possessed by Hitler as well as a disgraced priest. During her last exorcisms, Anneliese talked about wanting to die in order to save the souls of others. She stopped eating, rejected all medical help, and relied solely upon the priests to deliver her from the demons she believed were attacking her.

Eventually, Anneliese's knees were destroyed through obsessive genuflection. She contracted pneumonia and died at age 23 from starvation (by the time of her death, she weighed only 31 kilograms or 68 lbs). The autopsy report said that her death was caused by the malnutrition and dehydration that resulted from almost a year of semi-starvation during the rites.

Trial and Courtroom Charges

After an investigation, the state prosecutor said Anneliese�s death could have been prevented even one week before she died. He charged all four defendants � Pastor Ernst Alt and Father Arnold Renz as well as the parents � with negligent homicide for failing to call a medical doctor.

The trial started March 30, 1978 in the district court and drew intense interest. A series of doctors who testified at the trial all basically told the court that Anneliese died of a combination of epilepsy, mental disorders and an extreme religious environment which, in the words of Professor Hans Sattes of University of W�rzburg, added up to "a spiritual sickness and heavy psychic disturbance."

Throughout the trial, it was reported, Anneliese's father, 60-year-old Josef Michel, was sitting impassively, tilting close to a special amplifier to help him hear. His wife, Anna Michel, was taking notes steadily, pausing only to moan, "Oh, dear God", when some doctor alleged that her daughter had a mental disorder rather than the devil. Father Arnold Renz presented a commanding figure in his priest's robes, his long grey hair swept straight back and no emotion was apparent in his face. Pastor Ernst Alt, who was wearing dark civilian clothes was the one most involved in the proceedings. He seemed to let no points go by that conceivably could be challenged.

The priests were defended by church-paid lawyers. The parents were defended by one of Germany's top lawyers, Erich Schmidt-Leichner, who had also defended numerous persons in Nazi war crimes trials. Mr. Schmidt-Leichner claimed that not only was exorcism legal, but that the German constitution protected citizens in the unrestricted exercise of their religious beliefs.

The defense played the tapes from different sessions, sometimes featuring the supposed demons arguing, to prove that Anneliese was indeed possessed. Both priests told the court they remained convinced that she was possessed, and that her death finally freed her. The parents also remained convinced that she was possessed, but not that she was freed.

The prosecution countered with an argument of Doctrinaire Induction, claiming the priests gave Anneliese the contents of her psychotic episodes. Added to the basic skepticism concerning an actual demonic possession was a recognition that the country had been thrown into a paranormal panic with the release of the movie The Exorcist two years earlier. The possibility of that influence affecting the perceptions of mentally ill patients was well documented.

Ultimately, the accused were found guilty of manslaughter resulting from negligence and were sentenced to 6 months probation. It was a far lighter sentence than anticipated. It should, however, be pointed out that the prosecutor only asked that the priests be fined and that the parents be found guilty but not punished because they had already suffered enough.

During the trial, the major lingering issues were related to the church itself. A not-guilty verdict could be seen as opening the gate to more exorcism attempts - and possibly unfortunate outcomes - in an area where a certain amount of superstition still lives. But for the most part, experienced observers believed the effect would be the opposite - that merely bringing charges of negligent homicide against priests and parents will provoke changes and more caution.

Exhumation

On February 25, 1978, only weeks before the trial, the parents ordered the remnants of Anneliese to be exhumed from her grave. The official reason provided by her parents was that Anneliese had been buried in a great hurry in a cheap coffin. Almost two years after the burial, her remains were replaced in a new oak-coffin lined with tin.

However, among other circumstances preceding the exhumation was a statement by a Catholic nun from the district of Allgaeu in southern Bavaria. The nun had told the parents that she had a vision that their daughter's body was still intact, and that was proof of the possession - the remnants of Anneliese had therefore not decayed after her death. The official reports (to date undisputed by any authority) state that the body bore the signs of consistent deterioration.

The exhumation was attended by hundreds of curious spectators. The accused exorcists � Anneliese�s parents and the two priests � were, however, never allowed to witness the remnants of Anneliese. Father Arnold Renz later claimed that he had even been prevented from entering the mortuary.

Legacy

Although Anneliese's exorcism was sanctioned by Bishop Josef Stangl, a commission of the German Bishops' Conference later declared that Anneliese Michel was not possessed.

Bishop Stangl, who approved the exorcism and was in contact a dozen times with the two priests via letters on the case, was also investigated by state authorities, but they decided not to indict him or ask him to appear at the trial. The bishop maintained that his actions were all within church law. Before the trial, however, Bishop Stangl said that he would henceforce only approve exorcism if the possessed person agreed to the presence of a doctor during the ancient ritual.

There has been some criticism that the district court was trying to protect the church hierarchy. The case also leads to fundamental questions of belief in supernatural events, which, ultimately, is behind the use of such ancient rites as the Rituale Romanum. For example, a 1974 survey by the Freiburg Institute for Border-Line Psychology determined that 63 percent of Catholic theologians in Germany believe in the devil and in his personal existence. Those figures may even be slightly higher in Bavaria; the German press agency (D.P.A.) in 1976 surveyed bishops in 22 Catholic districts to find out if exorcism was still practised. Three said yes - W�rzburg, Augsburg and Passau, all in Bavaria.

The courtroom case, called the Klingenberg Case, became the basis of Scott Derrickson's 2005 movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The film significantly deviates from the real world events (for example, the film is set in the United States and Anneliese was renamed Emily Rose). An upcoming German-language film called Requiem by Hans-Christian Schmid has been announced, and the individuals involved promised to stay truer to the real-life events.

Today, Anneliese's grave in Klingenberg am Main remains a place of pilgrimage for those who believe in the supernatural version of events.

The True Story

Anneliese was born in September of 1952 in Bavaria. Her life was unremarkable in that she was a happy child, religiously nurtured, and in all other ways normal. However, at the age of sixteen, Anneliese was afflicted with the first of many of what her parents came to believe were demonic attacks. Her body went rigid, and she was unable to call out to her parents for help. She shook violently without control of her actions. Her parents took her to the Psychiatric Clinic in Wurzburg, where she was diagnosed with Grand Mal epilepsy. Medication was prescribed, and she was given treatments, but the attacks didn't stop.

She began seeing what she described as demons, visions of terrible creatures, during her everyday life. After a while she could hear them as well. She only spoke to her doctors about the visions once, telling them that the voices had begun giving her orders. For five years Anneliese went for medical treatment with no discernable benefit. In fact, the attacks were getting worse. Her behavior degenerated into something wholly unlike the child everyone knew. She insulted and beat other members of the family, often biting her three siblings. She refused to eat normal food, as the demons she heard would not allow it, and ate spiders and coal, often drinking her own urine. She slept on the floor and was given to fits of screaming and breaking religious icons such as the family's crucifixes and rosaries.

Her behavior grew steadily worse as she began acts of self-mutilation. Tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became common occurrences in the Michel home. In 1973 her parents began a fervent and desperate search for a priest to perform an exorcism. All the churches they approached denied their requests, explaining that the criterion of proof for possession had not been fulfilled. In order for a person to be deemed "possessed" and receive an exorcism, according to the Catholic church, there are a number of signs that must be observed. The afflicted person must exhibit at least three signs for permission to be granted. The signs of possession are varied, but among them are the afflicted displaying abnormal strength, paranormal powers such as levitation or telekinesis, and the knowledge of a language they've never studied.

By 1974 the Michel family won the sympathy of Pastor Ernst Alt, who believed the child was truly in danger from demons. He petitioned the Bishop of Wurzburg, Josef Stangl, with no success. The Bishop suggested that the child live a more holy lifestyle to find inner peace. Alt tried again a year later, this time providing verification of the signs of possession in Anneliese. Bishop Stangl relented and assigned Father Arnold Renz to perform the exorcism rite with Alt assisting. The rite of exorcism to be performed was the "Rituale Romanum."Exorcism, though long considered one of the church's dirty little secrets, is neither a religious ceremony nor a sacrament. It is a rite in which the priests confront the demon in the afflicted's body and demand that it show itself. Once the demon is revealed, the priests attempt to use their own faith to drive it out of the innocent.

The Rituale Romanum was first written in 1614 under the auspices of Pope Paul V. It remained largely intact and in use for exorcism with only minor changes in definitions to distinguish between possession and mental illness in 1952. Through repeating a set group of prayers, the Litanies of the Saints, Pater Noster, and the 54th Psalm, as well as the accompanying Gloria Patri, Anima Criste, and Salve Regina, two priests, a medical doctor, and members of the afflicted's family engage in a lengthy and often physically exhausting trial in which the priests attempt to expel the demon. The rituals are open to interpretation as exorcists are free to add in other aspects of the rite as they deem necessary.

Beginning in September of 1975 Anneliese endured two rites a week, during which time she exhibited violent behavior toward any within striking distance. She spit and bit, cursed and struck those around her, often having to be restrained by as many as three full-grown men. The rituals, however, seemed to be working. She was able to return to school at the Pedagogic Academy in Wurzburg and take her final exams. She even was able to return to church. However, as time passed, her condition deteriorated again.During the final round of exorcisms Anneliese stopped taking food for several weeks. Though she grew emaciated, she still exhibited unbelievable strength and spoke in the voices of those she claimed inhabited her body. Among the demons who claimed residence were Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, a disgraced Frankish priest from the 16th Century, a host of other damned souls, and even Lucifer himself. Her knees ruptured due to the more than six hundred genuflections she compulsively performed.

By June 30th, 1976, she was so emaciated and weak that she could not stand. Her parents, however, held her up and helped her perform the genuflections. It was late in the day on July 30, 1976, when Anneliese turned to the priests and said, "Beg for absolution." It was the last statement she would make to them. To her mother she simply said, "Mother, I'm afraid," and then collapsed and died. Her mother recorded her daughter's passing the next day while Alt informed the authorities. An investigation immediately began into her cause of death. Both priests and her parents were charged with negligent homicide.Two years later the case was finally brought to trial. Nearly forty hours of audio tape of the exorcism was played before the court. Testimony was heard from witnesses who had no doubts of demonic presences in the girl. But in the end it was the coroner's report that Anneliese has starved to death that proved to be their undoing. It was determined that admitting her to a hospital where she'd have been fed through a tube, even one week before she died, could have saved her life.

They also asserted that, by introducing the concept of demonic possession, the parents and priest provided a scapegoat for her behavior, which allowed her to misbehave all she wanted to without fear of consequence. Though convicted, her parents and the priests received a light sentence of only six months in jail and probation. The story, however, continued to capture the imagination of those that knew the girl or heard of her plight. Many claimed that her body could not have been at rest after such an ordeal, leading officials to exhume her corpse eleven years after her death. When it was determined that it had, in fact, decayed at the proper rate for one dead eleven years, she was recommitted to the ground.

Her grave became, and remains, a place of pilgrimage and religious importance to those who believe that the brave girl lost her life fighting the forces of darkness. Following the death of Anneliese the church recanted their permission, stating that she was merely afflicted by mental disorders. In 1996 the Pope removed Rituale Romanum from the approved list of rites and replaced it with his own, called "The Exorcism for the Upcoming Millennium."Anneliese Michel was a fresh-faced girl of sixteen when her life suddenly jolted out of her control and only twenty-three when she died. Whether or not she was possessed by demons is open to debate, but nothing can diminish the tragedy of her passing. While The Exorcism of Emily Rose bears the legend "based on a true story," respect must be given to the actual people and events on which the story is taken. Audiences should not forget, while they are being entertained, that no matter what their beliefs, Anneliese Michel, the real "Emily Rose," was no fictional character. --Scott A. Johnson