The Truth Behind Anneliese Michel’s Exorcism Will Give You Chills | HO

Klingenberg, Germany — On a quiet morning in July 1976, a physician stepped into a modest Bavarian home and was confronted with a scene that would haunt Germany for decades. Lying lifeless on the floor was 24-year-old Anneliese Michel, her body ravaged by starvation, her eyes bruised, her knees shattered, and her weight a mere 66 pounds. The story that unfolded from her death would not only grip a nation but force the world to confront uncomfortable questions about faith, medicine, and the limits of human suffering.

Anneliese Michel’s death was officially ruled a homicide—caused by malnutrition and dehydration after nearly a year of exorcisms. But the truth behind her final months remains a chilling intersection of religious fervor, psychiatric misdiagnosis, and a system that failed to protect its most vulnerable.

A Death That Defied Explanation

When Dr. Richard Roth arrived at the Michel home on July 1, 1976, he refused to issue a death certificate. The young woman before him bore the marks of prolonged suffering: bones protruding, lesions around her mouth, and knees broken from repeated kneeling. The authorities were called, and soon after, the local district attorney’s office launched an investigation that would become one of postwar Germany’s most controversial legal cases.

The Michel family’s parish priest, Father Ernst Alt, admitted he had been performing exorcisms on Anneliese for nearly a year, convinced she was possessed. Medical experts, on the other hand, insisted her symptoms were the result of treatable neurological and psychiatric illnesses. The battle lines were drawn: science versus faith, medicine versus the supernatural.

The Descent Begins

Anneliese’s ordeal began nearly a decade earlier, in 1968, when she was just 16. According to hospital records and later court testimony, she collapsed at school, entering a trance-like state, unable to speak or move. That evening, she described feeling pressed down by an invisible force and lost control of her bladder. Doctors initially diagnosed her with temporal lobe epilepsy, a condition known to produce seizures, hallucinations, and profound changes in personality.

Despite being prescribed anticonvulsant medication, Anneliese’s symptoms only grew more severe. She reported seeing demonic faces, smelling burning feces and sulfur, and hearing voices damning her to hell. Her psychiatric evaluations described her as withdrawn, deeply religious, and tormented by feelings of guilt and spiritual abandonment. “I can’t feel any love. I am cold and empty inside,” she told her psychiatrist. Her boyfriend and family confirmed her growing obsession with religious themes and visions.

Medical professionals suspected a combination of epilepsy, depression, and possibly schizophrenia. Yet, Anneliese and her devout Catholic family increasingly rejected these diagnoses. They believed she was not mentally ill, but spiritually afflicted—a belief that would soon have fatal consequences.

When Faith and Medicine Collide

The turning point came in 1973, during a pilgrimage to an unofficial shrine in San Damiano, Italy. Witnesses claimed Anneliese refused to enter the chapel, saying the ground burned her feet and that religious icons blinded her. These episodes were interpreted by clergy as signs of demonic possession. Medical literature, however, notes that hyper-religiosity and distorted sensory experiences are common in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Despite ongoing psychiatric care, Anneliese’s condition deteriorated. She began destroying religious icons, eating insects, and drinking her own urine. Her family, desperate for relief, turned to the church. After years of lobbying, Bishop Josef Stangl authorized the ancient Roman ritual of exorcism in September 1975, relying solely on the recommendation of Father Alt and without reviewing Anneliese’s medical history.

From that moment, medical treatment ceased. The church’s focus shifted entirely to exorcism.

67 Exorcisms and a Systemic Failure

Over the next ten months, Anneliese Michel underwent 67 exorcism sessions, each lasting up to four hours. Priests Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz recorded over 40 hours of audio during these rites. The tapes, later played in court and now widely available online, capture Anneliese’s guttural screams, growls, and pleas for help. She claimed to be possessed by six demons—including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Cain, Nero, Hitler, and a disgraced priest named Fleischmann.

Skeptics noted that all the “demons” were drawn from Christian and Western history, with no evidence of unknown languages or supernatural knowledge. In one session, a priest asked a question in Chinese, to which Anneliese (or the voice through her) responded, “Ask in German,” but added, “I did understand you.” Critics argued that everything she said could have been learned by someone raised in a devout Catholic household.

As the exorcisms continued, Anneliese’s health collapsed. She stopped eating, claiming the demons forbade her. Photographs from her final weeks show a figure unrecognizable from the healthy university student she once was. She developed pneumonia, bedsores, and suffered repeated fractures from constant kneeling—reportedly up to 600 times a day.

Despite her obvious decline, neither the priests nor her parents sought medical help. Father Alt later testified he never considered her in medical danger. By the time anyone realized the extent of her suffering, it was too late.

The Trial That Shocked Germany

Following Anneliese’s death, prosecutors charged her parents and the two priests with negligent homicide. The trial, which began in March 1978, was a media sensation, pitting religious freedom against medical responsibility. Defense attorneys argued that Anneliese had insisted on the exorcisms and had the right to refuse medical care. The prosecution built a meticulous timeline showing that she could have been saved even a week before her death if hospitalized and fed intravenously.

Recordings of the exorcisms played in court stunned the jury: the guttural voices, the religious rants, the desperate pleas. Medical experts testified that Anneliese suffered from severe psychiatric illness, compounded by malnutrition and dehydration. The court found all four defendants guilty but issued suspended sentences, citing the unique emotional circumstances and the religious motivations behind their actions.

The Catholic Church distanced itself from the case, emphasizing that while the exorcism had been authorized, priests were instructed not to interfere with medical care—a directive that had clearly gone unheeded.

Legacy and Unanswered Questions

In the aftermath, Anneliese’s grave became a pilgrimage site for those who saw her as a martyr. Her story inspired books, documentaries, and the 2005 film “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” The Vatican, shaken by the public backlash, revised its exorcism guidelines in 1999, requiring thorough medical and psychiatric evaluation before any ritual could be performed.

Yet the debate endures: Was Anneliese Michel truly possessed, or was she a victim of misdiagnosis and religious obsession? Some anthropologists, like Felicitas Goodman, argued that she experienced altered states of consciousness rather than illness. Neurologists countered that temporal lobe epilepsy often leaves no physical traces, and that her symptoms fit known medical patterns.

In legal hindsight, most experts agree the real tragedy was the collapse of care. A 1979 German health ministry report concluded, “Had she been hospitalized for even 48 hours in the final week, her death would likely have been prevented. This was not an exorcism issue. This was a refusal of care.”

A Chilling Cautionary Tale

Decades later, the chilling audio tapes and photographs still circulate online, fueling debate and fascination. For some, Anneliese Michel is a spiritual warrior. For others, she is a stark warning of what happens when mental illness meets unchecked faith.

Her story endures not because it is inexplicable, but because it was avoidable. The truth behind Anneliese Michel’s exorcism is not just a tale of demons and rituals—it is a powerful reminder of the dangers of neglect, the complexity of belief, and the enduring human struggle to understand suffering.