A German girl possessed by a demon. Real cases of obsession

Usually a ritual exorcism associated with the unenlightened Middle Ages. However, there are cases when representatives catholic church cast out the devil from human body even in the second half of the 20th century. The girl, who was considered possessed, was subjected to exorcism as many as 65 times in 1976.

Anneliese Michel ( Anneliese Michel) was born in 1952 in a Bavarian town into a family of practicing Catholics. At first, her life was no different from her peers: the girl went to school, played with friends, and attended church. The first time “something wrong” happened to her was in 1968. The spasm caused Anneliese to bite her tongue. A year later, attacks began to recur, during which the girl could not speak, her body lost flexibility, and a feeling of tightness arose in the chest area.

Anneliese was sent to a psychiatrist. Numerous electroencephalograms performed showed no changes in the brain area. The girl was admitted to the hospital. During the attacks, she made faces, growled, struggled, and in moments of calm she begged the doctors to help her. Those who treated her associated Anneliese’s condition with epilepsy, but the prescribed anticonvulsants over 4 years of treatment did not improve the girl’s condition at all.

Then the parents, believing Catholics, turned to the church in a prayer to deliver their daughter from the Evil One. In 1975, two monks were found who agreed to the rite of exorcism, based on the instructions of the Roman Ritual, described back in 1614.
During the ritual of exorcism, Anneliese writhed and struggled so much that three men had to restrain her. The girl said that she was possessed by six demons, and when the priest tried to touch her, she screamed that his hands were burning like fire.

Between September 1975 and June 1976, Anneliese was tried 65 times to exorcise the devil. 42 rituals performed were recorded on video camera. The girl refused to eat, saying that Satan forbade her to do so, and slept on the cold floor. On June 30, 1976, Anneliese was in bed with pneumonia. She began to have convulsions, after which the girl died. At the time of her death, she was severely emaciated, the 24-year-old girl weighed only 31 kg.

After the death of Anneliese Michel, a high-profile trial began, which was followed by the whole country. The prosecutor brought charges against two priests and Anneliese's parents, based on what doctors diagnosed as psychotic and epileptic. The accused received 6 months in prison.

Anneliese Michel's horrific story was the basis for the 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the documentary book The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel by Felicitas Goodman. To the question: what really happened to the poor girl - incurable disease or possession by the devil, no one has been able to answer for sure for 40 years.
Well, film directors continue to film, chaining viewers to the screens and making them tremble in horror.

The mysterious story of Anneliese is the basis for several feature films. It happened more than 35 years ago and still does not cease to arouse interest among people. The main question that everyone who learns about Anneliese Michel- what really happened to the girl - was she truly possessed or was her death the result of a serious illness. Almost 40 years later, no one has been able to answer this question with certainty. The life of this girl attracted the attention of society and the media in 1976, when Anneliese was already 24 years old. At this time, fellow citizens were closely following the news of the unusual and high-profile trial of a group of Catholic clergy who were accused of causing the death of Anneliese Michel.

Youth Anneliese Michel ("Emily Rose")

The girl was born in 1952 in a small Bavarian village into a Catholic family. A. Fürg and J. Michel, parents Anneliese, were devout Catholics, overly conservative, and in many ways orthodox. The Michel family did not accept the Second Vatican Council and celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Fatima every month on the 13th. Among the role models in the family, neighbor B. Weigand was often cited, who walked 5 hours on foot to the Capuchin church to receive wafers there. The girl regularly attended church services 2-3 times a week, said rosaries and made constant attempts to do more than was necessary (for example, she slept on the floor cold winter). In 1968, the first case of an “attack” occurred: a girl bit own language due to spasm. After 12 months, attacks began at night, during which the body Anneliese lost its flexibility, a strange feeling of heaviness appeared in the chest area, she lost the ability to speak - Anneliese was not able to independently ask for help from either her parents or her sisters. After the first “attack,” the girl began to feel empty and exhausted for the first time; she could not find the strength to attend classes at school. The attacks alternated with periods of calm and the girl rarely spent time playing tennis.

The beginning and the end "Emily Rose"

In 1969 Anneliese woke up at night due to breathing complications, her whole body was also paralyzed and she could not move. The family doctor, G. Vogt, referred the girl for examination to a psychiatrist. On August 27, 1969, the girl had an electroencephalogram and her brain Anneliese did not find any changes. Very soon the girl was diagnosed with tuberculosis and pleurisy and at the beginning of 1970 she was admitted to a hospital in the city of Aschaffenburg. On February 28, the girl was transported to Mittelberg. On the night of June 3, the attack began again. A new electroencephalogram again showed nothing that aroused the doctors' suspicion, but Dr. V. Haller advised treatment with medication. He did not reverse his decision even after receiving the third and fourth electroencephalograms, which showed the same result. In Mittelberg, the girl began to see faces for the first time demons. In the spring Michel I began to hear some knocking. Dr. Vogt, having examined Anneliese and not finding anything suspicious, sent Anneliese to the otologist, who also found nothing, but the knocking that she heard Anneliese, her sisters also began to hear.

Herself Anneliese admitted that she first began to think she was possessed at the age of 13. One of the first to be surrounded Anneliese The one who realized that something mysterious was happening to the girl was a woman named Thea Hein. She accompanied Anneliese during a pilgrimage to the city of San Damiano in Italy. Even then, Hein noted to herself that the girl walked around one of the images of Jesus Christ and did not want to drink water from the sacred source of Lourdes. 4 years of therapy, which included the use of anticonvulsants like Tegretal and Centropil, essentially nothing was able to Anneliese haven't changed. On September 16, 1975, Stangl, after consultations with A. Rodevik (Jesuit), on the basis of the first paragraph of Chapter 1151 of the Code of Canon Law, sent Alt and the Salvatorian A. Renz to the girl to perform exorcism ritual.

Its main part at that time was the Roman Ritual, which was developed back in 1614 and which was later expanded in 1954. The girl said she was being manipulated 6 demons, who were represented by Lucifer, Cain, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Fleischmann and another unknown name. V. Fleishman served as a Franconian priest in 1552-1575, later he was demoted and accused of living with a woman and a passion for wine. In addition, Feishman was charged with murder.

From September 24, 1975 to June 30, 1976, more than 65 rituals were performed on the girl, 1-2 times a week. 42 of them were videotaped and viewed later in the courtroom. The 1st ritual lasted more than 5 hours. At a time when the clergy touched Anneliese, she screamed: “Take your paws away, they burn like fire!” Her attacks were so strong that the girl was held by three people at the same time, sometimes she had to be tied with a chain. It’s mysterious, but the rest of the time between attacks Anneliese was of normal mind and did not complain of illness, attended school and church, and later passed exams at the Würzburg Academy.

On 05/30/1976, Dr. R. Roth was present at one of the rituals, at which he answered the clergyman Alt, who asked him for help: “There is no medicine against the devil.” On June 30 of the same year, a girl who was seriously experiencing pneumonia, before going to bed, said: “Mom, stay in the room, I’m afraid.” They were like that last words Anneliese. The next morning, the girl’s mother Anna saw her daughter dead on the bed, her weight at that moment was only 31 kg.

Consequences - exorcism or murder?

04/21/1978 court of the city of Aschaffenburg (she studied in this city Anneliese), began proceedings in this case, among the defendants are parents Anneliese and two clergymen. For unclear reasons, the girl's parents were not allowed to attend the exhumation, and Renz later stated that he was not even allowed into the morgue. It is noteworthy that the head of the Episcopal Conference, Cardinal J. Heffner, who had previously said that the girl was not possessed, also admitted on April 28, 1978 that he believes in the existence devil. Several researchers in their own works, including special attention causes an active supporter of obsession Anneliese Protestant F. Goodman (book " Anneliese Michel and her demons"), harshly criticized the entire trial.

Upon completion of a thorough investigation, the prosecuting party stated that the death Anneliese happened prematurely and that she could live, according to minimal calculations, another week. Among the accused were: the girl’s parents, Pastor E. Alt and Father A. Renz. The trial started on March 30, 1978 and caused a serious public outcry. A large team of lawyers, paid for by the church, stood up to defend the clergy. The defense argued that exorcism is the same guaranteed right of citizens, protected by the constitution, as the right to religious beliefs. At the end of the trial, the defendants were convicted and given a suspended sentence of 6 months in prison.

Nowadays Last refuge Anneliese, her grave in the city of Klingenberg, is today visited by Catholic societies. Some of them are convinced that after such a long battle over many years, Anneliese’s soul won victory over the devil. In 1999, Cardinal M. Estevez showed the media in the Vatican for the first time in 385 years new version Roman Ritual, which the clergy worked on for more than 10 years. In 2005, a film directed by S. Derrickson was released on cinema screens, based on the story Anneliese Michel. The film was called " The Six Demons of Emily Rose" In 2006, another feature film by German director Hans-Christian Schmid, “Requiem,” was released, which was also dedicated Anneliese.

They say that a 23-year-old student from Klingenberg, Anneliese Michel, was possessed by six demons who did not want to let her go. Over nine months, Anneliese went through 67 expulsion rituals. When this did not help, the girl chose to starve herself to death. In 1976, she forced herself to give up food, thinking that hunger would help her get rid of the devil. When she died, she weighed only 31 kilograms. “Mom,” she said just before the end, “I’m afraid.” A few years ago, a film based on events in the life of Anneliese Michel was released. According to Hollywood tradition, the film's action "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" takes place in modern America. However, the exile procedure itself is not shown in the film, and everything is built around the prosecution to which the ritual participants are subjected after the death of the heroine.

Anneliese's parents Anna and Joseph Michel also stood trial on charges of murdering their daughter, as did two priests who performed the exorcism. The parents were found guilty of manslaughter for allowing their daughter to starve to death and were given six months' suspended prison sentences and three years' probation.

Anneliese's mother still lives in that same house. She never fully recovered from those terrible events. Her husband died in 1999 and her three other daughters moved away. Anna Michelle, now in her 80s, bears the burden of memories alone. She has developed cataracts, which make her eyes appear frozen under a film. From the bedroom window you can see the cemetery where Anneliese is buried. On the grave there is a wooden cross with the name of the deceased and the inscription “Rest in the Lord.”

“Of course I miss Anneliese. She was my daughter. I see her grave and often visit her to lay flowers,” says Anna Michel.

A deeply religious woman, she insists that the exorcism was justified.

“I know we did the right thing because I saw the mark of Christ on her hands,” she says. “She had stigmata. There was a signal from the Lord that we must go to exorcise the devil. She died for the salvation of our lost souls, to cleanse them from sin. Anneliese was a kind, loving and obedient girl. But when the devil possessed her, it was something supernatural that defied explanation.

Anneliese was born in 1952. Her mother encouraged her to passionately serve God. When other children of the 60s were trying to find the limits of their freedom, Anneliese spent her nights on the stone floor to atone for the sins of the drug addicts she saw sleeping on the floor of the railway station building. In 1968, she began having convulsions and seizures and was diagnosed with advanced epilepsy. She complained that she experienced diabolical hallucinations during her prayers. Obviously, due to excessive religiosity, the visions took the form of demons. In 1973, Anneliese became severely depressed and seriously considered suicide. The voices that the girl heard said that she was doomed. Then Anneliese began to ask the local priest to rid her of the possessed demon, but he twice refused.

Anneliese's condition gradually worsened. Every day she performed 600 prostrations on her knees, which eventually led to ligament injuries knee joints. She crawled under the table and barked like a dog for two days, ate spiders, pieces of coal, bit off the head of a dead bird, licked her own urine from the floor, and the neighbors heard her howl through the walls.

In 1975, the Bishop of Würzburg agreed to the girl's third request to perform an exorcism ritual. Anneliese refused the help of doctors from Würzburg psychiatric clinic. Later, based on all the symptoms, doctors recognized her as having schizophrenia, which is treatable.

The exorcism was performed by Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt according to the Roman breviary of 1614. They held one or two four-hour sessions per week for nine months. The priests identified several demons, including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Cain and Adolf Hitler, all of whom spoke German with an Austrian intonation.

Forty-two hours of these sessions were recorded on tape, and experts say it is very difficult to listen to. Inhuman growling alternates with guttural gurgling, obscene curses and dialogues of the demons themselves about the horrors of hell. Anneliese thrashed about so much during these sessions that she was tied and even chained to a chair.

In the spring of 1976, the girl developed pneumonia due to extreme exhaustion of her body. On July 1, being in a feverish delirium, she died. Her parents buried her behind the cemetery - usually illegitimate children and suicides were buried there.

In 1984, because of the incident with the Michel family, German priests turned to Rome with a request to reconsider the rite of exorcism. Although their recommendations were rejected, in 1999 the Vatican published a revised version of the ritual for the first time since the 17th century, which the Vatican now requires priests to have medical training to perform.

“I would never have performed this ritual,” admits Father Dieter Feineis, priest of the Church of St. Pancras in Klingenberg. “But both Anna Michel and her husband were absolutely sure that they were doing the right thing. The Church says in this regard that there are cases when the devil possesses a person, but in Germany no one commits exile anymore."

The story of Anneliese Michel is more often called "the world's first documented case of exorcism." In fact, the girl’s “strange behavior” is explained quite simply: against the background of general religious insanity, epilepsy and schizophrenia, Annelise’s visions and hallucinations took on the images of demons, the devil, etc.

Some people think that Anneliese might have been influenced by William Fradkin’s film “The Exorcist,” released in 1973. But whatever the cause of her illness, the ritual of exorcism most likely only made Anneliese fully believe in her own hallucinations.

a-theism.com
Elizabeth Day. “God told us to exorcise my daughter's demons. I don't regret her death” The Sunday Telegraph, November 26, 2005

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Anneliese Michel was born in the Bavarian commune of Leiblfing with a population of just over 3 thousand people. Her father, Joseph Michel, grew up in a believing family. His mother's three sisters were nuns, and she wanted her son to continue family tradition and became a clergyman. Joseph chose a career as a carpenter. Later, he completed his labor service in the imperial labor service, then, as part of the Wehrmacht, he went to western front
. He was a US prisoner of war, returned to his homeland in 1945 and soon began working as a carpenter again. Anneliese's mother Anna graduated from a women's gymnasium and a trade school. She worked in her father's office, where she met Josef. They married in 1950. By this time, Anna already had a daughter, born in March 1948. She died in 1956 from kidney cancer and was buried outside the family crypt. Subsequently, Anneliese considered the birth of an illegitimate child to be her mother’s sin and constantly performed repentance for her.

Anneliese was brought up in strictness and was devoted Catholic faith. Anneliese's childhood was happy, although she grew up as a weak and sickly child. In 1968, due to a spasm, Michel bit her tongue. A year later, strange night attacks began to occur: Annelise, due to dysarthria, could not move, felt heaviness in her chest, sometimes lost the power of speech and could not call anyone from her loved ones. In 1969, the girl woke up with difficulty breathing and complete paralysis of her body. Family doctor Gerhard Vogt advised the parents to go to the hospital. An electroencephalogram was performed, which did not show any changes in Michelle's brain. However, she was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. The girl was hospitalized in early February 1970 with a diagnosis of tuberculosis. In June 1970, Michel suffered a third seizure in the hospital where she was at that time. She was prescribed anticonvulsants, including phenytoin, which did not bring the desired result. Then she began to claim that sometimes the “Face of the Devil” appears before her. In 1973, she began hallucinating while praying, hearing voices telling her that she was cursed and would "Rot in Hell."

Michelle's treatment in a psychiatric hospital did not help, and she increasingly doubted the effectiveness of medicine. Being a devout Catholic, she assumed that she was the victim of possession. Later, she and family friend Thea Hein made a pilgrimage to San Giorgio Piacentino. There, Hein came to the conclusion that Michel was possessed because she could not touch the crucifix and refused to drink water from the holy spring of Lourdes. Together with her family, Michel turned to several priests with a request to exorcise demons. They all refused and recommended continuing treatment. Michelle's condition worsened more and more. She tore the clothes on her body, ate spiders and coal, bit off the head of a dead bird, and licked her own urine from the floor. During her seizures she spoke in different languages and called herself Lucifer, Cain, Judas, Nero and Adolf Hitler. In November 1973, she was prescribed carbamazepine.

The first ceremony was performed on September 24. After this, Michelle stopped taking medical supplies and completely trusted the exorcism. 67 rituals were performed over 10 months. They were carried out once or twice a week and lasted up to four hours. 42 rituals were captured on camera and later demonstrated in court in the case of Michel's death. An autopsy showed that Michel's death was not directly caused by an exorcism. At some point, she decided that her death was inevitable, and voluntarily refused food and drink. Michel believed that her death would be atonement for the sins of the younger generation and clergy who deviated from the canons. She hoped that people, having learned about her fate, would believe in God. At the time of her death, Michele weighed only about 30 kg with a height of 166 cm, suffered from pneumonia, her knee joints were torn from constant kneeling, and her whole body was covered in bruises and open wounds. IN recent months Michelle couldn't even move without outside help. She had to be tied to the bed to prevent her from hurting herself.

The trial that followed caused a wide resonance in society. Two priests and Anneliese's parents were charged with causing death by negligence. According to the prosecution, they took advantage of the girl’s trust and encouraged her to refuse treatment, which led to her death. In turn, the defense referred to the German Constitution, which guarantees citizens freedom of religion. As a result, all defendants were found guilty and sentenced to 3 years of suspended imprisonment.

Michelle's story has been the basis for many works of art, including the famous horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Anna Elisabeth Michel, better known as Anneliese, was born in a Bavarian village in 1952 in big family conservative Catholics. A girl raised in strict faith, with early childhood attended all services and sang in the church choir. She was distinguished by religious fanaticism and even slept on the cold floor during the winter fast.

Since the age of 16, the girl has suffered from nervous diseases. Anneliese Michel has her first seizure, accompanied by convulsions. According to doctors, her epilepsy was aggravated mental disorder. The teenager bites her tongue due to a strong spasm, sometimes even complete paralysis of the body occurs, and due to speech impairments the girl cannot call anyone for help. At the same time, strange things happen: she stops drinking holy water, turns away from the crucifix, and quarrels with her family. Soon attacks torment her both day and night. At this time, she cannot talk, feels empty and tired, and her body loses its former flexibility. A girl who skips school is tormented constant feeling heaviness in the chest area. She begins to feel depressed and has suicidal thoughts.

The story of this girl, which became the basis of two feature films, took place more than thirty years ago, but continues to arouse interest today. The main question that everyone who is familiar with this drama asks is what really happened to Anneliese - was she really possessed or was her death the result of a serious illness. It is unlikely that we will answer this question now, but this does not prevent us from hearing true story short life Anneliese Michel from Germany.

The events in question became the subject of attention in 1976. The public has been closely following the unprecedented trial of two Catholic priests, who were accused of the death of a young woman, Anneliese Michel.

She was born in 1952 in a small Bavarian village into a Catholic family. Her name is a combination of two names, Anna and Elizabeth. Anneliese's parents, Anna Fürg and Joseph Michel, were practicing Catholics, very conservative, if not orthodox. They rejected the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Fatima on the 13th of every month, and neighbor Barbara Weigand, who walked five hours to the Capuchin church to receive the wafer, was considered a model in the Michel family.

Anneliese regularly attended mass several times a week, said rosaries, and even tried to do more than was prescribed, such as sleeping on the floor in the middle of winter. In 1968, the first attack occurred: Anneliese bit her tongue due to a spasm. A year later, night seizures began, during which the girl’s body lost flexibility, a feeling of heaviness appeared in her chest, loss of the ability to speak - the girl could not call her parents or any of her three sisters. After the first attack, Anneliese felt so exhausted and empty that she could not find the strength to go to school. The attacks were followed by periods of calm, and Anneliese even sometimes managed to play tennis.

In 1969, the girl woke up at night due to difficulty breathing and numbness in her body. Family doctor Gerhard Vogt advised me to see a psychiatrist. On August 27, 1969, Anneliese's electroencephalogram did not reveal any changes in the brain. However, later the girl was struck down by pleurisy and tuberculosis. At the beginning of February 1970, she was admitted to a hospital in Aschaffenburg. On the 28th Anneliese was transferred to Mittelberg. On the night of June 3 of the same year, another attack began. A new EEG again did not reveal anything suspicious, but Dr. Wolfgang von Haller recommended drug treatment. The decision was not reversed even when the same result was shown by the third and fourth EEGs taken on August 11, 1970 and June 4, 1973. In Mittelberg, Anneliese began to see demonic faces during the rosary. In the spring, Anneliese began to hear a knocking sound. Vogt, having examined the girl and found nothing, sent the girl to an otologist, but he also found nothing, and the girl’s sisters also began to hear the knock.

According to Anneliese herself, it began to seem to her that she was possessed from the age of 13. The first person to realize that something was wrong with Anneliese was Thea Hein, who accompanied her during a pilgrimage to San Damiano, Italy. She noticed that Anneliese walked away from the image of Christ and refused to drink water from the sacred Lourdes spring.
Four years of treatment yielded nothing, and in the summer of 1973, Anneliese’s parents turned to several priests, but they were explained that until all signs of possession were proven, an exorcism could not be performed. The following year, Pastor Ernst Alt, after observing Anneliese for some time, requested permission from Bishop Joseph Stangl of Würzburg to perform an exorcism, but was refused. At this time, Anneliese's behavior changed: she refused to eat, began breaking crucifixes and images of Christ in the house, tearing off her clothes, screaming for hours, biting family members, injuring herself, eating spiders, flies and coal. One day Anneliese climbed under the table in the kitchen and barked like a dog for two days. Thea, who arrived, called on the demons to leave the girl three times in the name of the Trinity, and only then Anneliese came out from under the table as if nothing had happened.
On September 16, 1975, Stangl, in consultation with the Jesuit Adolf Rodewick, appointed Alt and the Salvatorian Arnold Renz to perform the exorcism. Its basis then was the so-called Roman Ritual (“Rituale Romanum”), developed back in 1614 and expanded in 1954.

Joseph Michel. Memory and meaning

Michel's death caused a wide resonance in Germany and raised questions about the limits of religious freedom. Many Germans were dismayed that such an incident could happen in modern times. European country. Journalist Franz Barthel, who covered the incident in the press, said three decades later in an interview with The Washington Post that he was still amazed by Michele's death and the superstitiousness of her circle. The Washington Post noted in a 2005 article that exorcism is now more common than is commonly believed. Thus, according to Professor Clemens Richter, there are up to 70 practicing exorcists in France. A Polish congress in 2005 reportedly attracted 350 exorcists. Germany is an exception in this regard: there are only two or three exorcists, and they are forced to carry out their actions in secret, albeit with the consent of the bishops. As the famous skeptic Brian Dunning writes in his article, many similar cases of death after the expulsion of demons are currently known.

Video Anneliese Michel - REAL EXORCISM

Everyone goes crazy in their own way. In every locality there must be a city madman. For example, a certain Oleg Mitasov lived in Kharkov.

Oleg Mitasov is an economist, a store director, who later fell ill with schizophrenia and covers every surface he comes across with inscriptions, from the walls of his own apartment to the streets of the city. Mitasov died in 1999, but his wall messages are still remembered by Kharkov residents over 35 years old.

What is noteworthy is that, having never seen the Internet, the blessed one wrote everything with a dot. People perceived the inscriptions differently, many considered him a cult figure, almost a prophet, and saw in his texts something more than just letters.

Almost no one knew Mitasov’s biography. Born in Czechoslovakia. Received a higher economic education. P gave birth in a communal 7-room apartment in the center of Kharkov at the address: Krasnoznamenny Lane, building No. 18 (opposite Khudprom).

According to one legend, he went crazy after he forgot his doctoral dissertation on the tram on the way to the Higher Attestation Commission and because of this he did not become a doctor of science. This can be confirmed by the numerous mentions of the word VAK (Higher Attestation Commission) in its inscriptions.

He did not allow anyone into his apartment and, nevertheless, from somewhere it was known that the entire space of the communal apartment, from which the rest of the residents had practically moved out, was also filled with inscriptions. In the city where Grigory Skovoroda, known for his philosophical paradoxical statements (“The world caught me, but did not catch me”), once lived and taught, the figure of Mitasov looked iconic, continuing a certain tradition of searching for cosmic harmony between man and the surrounding world. From the same series, the idea of Mitasov the shaman, spinning and shouting words-symbols in the pouring rain.

Having fallen ill, he covered all the surfaces of his apartment with inscriptions, often in several layers.

He died at the end of 1999 from tuberculosis in one of the psychiatric hospitals Kharkov. After the death of his mother, the apartment was renovated, and all the inscriptions inside the apartment were lost. Currently, there is an office in Mitasov’s former apartment. The fate of the piano and refrigerator, covered in several layers with Mitasov’s inscriptions and drawings, is unknown.

Anneliese Michel (September 21, 1952 - July 1, 1976). She is known for the fact that the films “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and “Requiem” were based on her life. She suffered from nervous diseases from the age of 16 until her death in 1976, the cause of which (at least indirectly) is considered to be an exorcism ritual. Her parents and two priests who performed the ritual were later charged with manslaughter. The expulsion was carried out by Pastor Arnold Renz under the ideological leadership of Bishop Joseph Stangl. The ritual ended with the girl's death.

“Annelisa’s soul, cleansed of satanic power,” said the pastor to the grief-stricken parents of the deceased, “has ascended to the throne of the Most High...”

Some people believe that she was actually possessed by the devil.

In 1969 The doctor diagnosed seventeen-year-old German Anneliese Michel with epilepsy, although the electroencephalogram showed nothing. It was only after Anneliese's death in 1976 that a number of oddities surfaced, and then thanks to an equally strange trial. Despite the fact that the autopsy also showed no signs of epilepsy in the brain and death from dehydration and exhaustion, the culprits continued to be two priests and Anneliese's parents, who were not allowed to be exhumed. What made Anneliese destroy sacred relics, turn her head left and right with the speed of changing frames, and eat spiders, flies and coal?

Anneliese Michel was born on September 21, 1952. in the Bavarian Leiblfing, but was brought up in Klingenberg am Main of the same land, which was then also part of the Federal Republic of Germany. The girl's name was a combination of two names - Anna and Elizabeth (Lisa). Conservative parents Anna Fürg and Joseph Michel were a colorful exception in Germany, but commonplace in the Catholic bastion of Bavaria. They rejected the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, held the feast of Our Lady of Fatima on the 13th of every month, and neighbor Barbara Weigand, who walked five hours to the Capuchin church to receive a wafer, was a model in the Michel family. Anneliese attended mass several times a week, said rosaries, and even tried to do more than was prescribed, such as sleeping on the floor in the middle of winter.

In 1968 A generally harmless incident occurred: Annelise bit her tongue due to a spasm. A year later, strange night attacks began, during which the girl’s body lost flexibility, a feeling of heaviness appeared on her chest, and due to dysarthria - loss of the ability to speak - she was unable to call either her parents or any of her three sisters. After the first attack, Annelise felt so exhausted that she could not find the strength to go to school. However, this did not happen again for some time and Anneliese even played tennis sometimes.

In 1969 the girl woke up at night due to difficulty breathing and paralysis of her arms and whole body. The family doctor advised me to see a psychiatrist. On August 27, 1969, Anneliese's electroencephalogram did not reveal any changes in the brain. On the night of June 3 of the same year, another attack began. A new EEG again did not reveal anything suspicious, but Dr. Wolfgang von Haller recommended drug treatment. The decision was not canceled even when the third and fourth EEGs, taken on August 11, 1970 and June 4, 1973, showed the same result. In Mittelberg, Anneliese began to see demonic faces during the rosary. In the spring, Annelise began to hear some knocking. Vogt, having examined the girl and not finding anything, sent the girl to an otologist, but he also did not reveal anything, and the girl’s sisters began to hear the knocking that was heard above or below the witness.

Summer 1973 Anneliese's parents turned to several priests, but they were told that until all signs of possession were proven, an exorcism could not be carried out. The following year, Pastor Ernst Alt, after observing Anneliese for some time, requested permission from Bishop Joseph Stangl of Würzburg to perform an exorcism, but was refused.

At this time, Anneliese's behavior changed: she refused to eat, began breaking crucifixes and images of Christ in the house, tearing off her clothes, screaming for hours, biting family members, injuring herself and doing up to 400 squats a day (or 600 bows on her knees, which, in the end, led to injury to the knee ligaments). And one day Annelise climbed under the table in the kitchen and barked like a dog for two days. Thea, who arrived, called on the demons to leave the girl three times in the name of the Trinity, and only then did she come out from under the table as if nothing had happened.

However, this turned out to be temporary and Anneliese was later found above the Main, ready to throw herself into the water due to repeated calls from demons to commit suicide. Every day Anneliese Michel suffered more and more from her illness. She insulted her relatives, fought, bit, growled and wheezed, slept only on the floor, did not eat regular food (according to her, Satan forbade her to do this), but ate spiders and flies, destroyed icons and crosses that were in her room.

September 16, 1975 Stangl, in consultation with the Jesuit Adolf Rodewick, based on the 1st paragraph of the 1151st chapter of the Code of Canon Law, appointed Alta and the Salvatorian Arnold Renz to perform the exorcism. Its basis then was the so-called Roman Ritual (“Rituale Romanum”), developed back in 1614 and expanded in 1954.

Anneliese indicated that she was commanded by six demons who called themselves Lucifer, Cain, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Fleischmann (a 16th century monk who fell under the rule of Satan) and Hitler, all of whom spoke German with an Austrian intonation. Valentin Fleishman was a Franconian priest in 1552-1575, later he was demoted, accused of cohabitation with a woman and addiction to wine. Fleishman also committed murder in his parish house.

From September 24, 1975 to June 30, 1976 About 70 rites were performed over Anneliese, one or two weekly. The first ceremony took place at 16:00 and lasted 5 hours. When the priests touched Anneliese, she shouted: “Take your paw away, it burns like fire!” The attacks were so severe that Annelise was either held by three people or tied up with a chain.

June 30, 1976 Annelise, feverish from pneumonia, went to bed and said: “Mom, stay, I’m afraid.” These were her last words. On July 1, 1976, at the age of 23, Anna was pronounced dead at about 8 a.m. Her parents buried her behind the cemetery - usually illegitimate children and suicides were buried there. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was dehydration and malnutrition, from which the girl suffered during months-long cycles of exorcism.

It turned out that at the time of her death, Anneliese weighed only 31 kg. On April 21, 1978, the district court of Aschaffenburg, where Anneliese studied at the gymnasium, put the girl’s parents and both priests in the dock. It is not clear why the parents were not allowed to exhume, and Renz later said that he was not even allowed into the morgue. It is also interesting that the head of the German episcopal conference, which stated that Anneliese was not possessed, Cardinal Joseph Höffner, admitted on April 28, 1978 that he believes in the existence of demons.

Anneliese's grave in Klingenberg is visited by groups of Catholics. Some of them believe that after many years of struggle, Anneliese's soul defeated the demons. In 1999, Cardinal Medina Estevez, for the first time in 385 years, presented to journalists at the Vatican a new version of the Roman Ritual, which had been in the works for more than 10 years; the Vatican now requires priests to have a medical education to perform the ritual.

“I would never perform this ritual,” admits Father Dieter Feineis, priest of the Church of St. Pancras in Klingenberg. “But both Anna Michel and her husband were absolutely sure that they were doing the right thing. The Church says in this regard that there are cases when the devil possesses a person, but in Germany no one commits exile anymore.”

“Of course I miss Anneliese. She was my daughter. I see her grave and often visit to lay flowers,” says Anna Michel.

A deeply religious woman, she insists that the exorcism was justified.

“I know we did the right thing because I saw the sign of Christ on her hands,” she says. “She had stigmata.” There was a signal from the Lord that we must go to exorcise the devil. She died for the salvation of our lost souls, to cleanse them from sin. Anneliese was a kind, loving and obedient girl. But when the devil possessed her, it was something supernatural that defied explanation.