Annelise Michel is a young German girl who is notorious for being possessed by demons and died after being exorcised on her. Her story is still controversial both in secular society and in religious circles. It is not known for certain whether Anneliese suffered from a mental illness or was really possessed.
Biography
Annelise Michel (full name Anna-Elisabeth) was born in 1952 in the small German town of Leiblfing. Her family was very religious. Three female relatives from my father's side were nuns.
Annelise's father, Josef Michel, worked as a carpenter. During World War II, as part of the Wehrmacht, he fought on the western front. Joseph was captured by the American troops, returned home in 1945 and continued to practice carpentry.
The girl's mother studied at a girls' gymnasium and a trade school. She worked for her father's firm, where she met Josef Michel. The woman already had an illegitimate child (daughter) from a previous relationship, the appearance of which she considered her grave sin. Such an attitude towards the older sister was passed on to Annelise, who for a long time defended her mother's misconduct. The illegitimate girl lived very shortly and died of kidney cancer at the age of eight. She was buried separately, outside the family cemetery.
Anneliese was brought up strictly and in strict accordance with the Catholic faith. From early childhood, she attended Mass and sang in the church choir. The girl was an opponent of the entertainment of modern youth, she did not have a personal intimate life. She tried to atone for the sins of her peers, constantly read prayers and slept on the bare floor in the winter.
Despite her devout religiosity, the girl was very educated, she studied well at school and took lessons in playing the accordion and piano. Anneliese successfully graduated from Karl Dahlberg Primary School and Gymnasium.
Illness or obsession
The girl's first attacks occurred in 1969. Anneliese felt a strong heaviness in her chest, she could not move and call for help, sometimes the girl had a complete paralysis of the body.
After going to the doctors, she underwent an electroencephalogram, which showed no changes in the girl's brain. However, the doctors diagnosed her with temporal lobe epilepsy. In 1970, Anneliese was hospitalized with tuberculosis. In the hospital, she had another seizure, after which the girl claimed that she had seen the face of the devil. The doctors prescribed her various drugs, but to no avail.
Over time, the attacks became more frequent and Anneliese began to haunt hallucinations and "voices in the head." Her condition worsened more and more, and treatment in a psychiatric clinic did not bring any results. The girl began to assure everyone of her demonic possession.
Later, with a family friend, she made a pilgrimage to holy places. But in churches she was literally jarred from crucifixions, and she flatly refused to even try the water from the holy Lourdes spring.
Exorcism
After the family council, it was decided to appeal to the clergy with a request for special events to drive out demons. But all the priests refused to help the girl and advised her to continue the traditional treatment.
Remarkably, between the attacks, Michel led an ordinary life and was even able to get an education, graduating from the University of Würzburg.
However, after a while, her condition deteriorated sharply. The girl literally raged: she screamed, wheezed, tore her clothes, mutilated herself, ate spiders and coal, licked urine from the floor. Interesting fact: during her seizures, Anneliese spoke in different languages and in different voices, and also claimed that there were seven demons inside her.
The first priest to answer the call for help was Ernst Alt. He believed that the girl did not look like a person suffering from a mental illness, and was really possessed. In 1975, Alt received permission to conduct an exorcism ceremony. The "treatment" lasted for ten months, and more than sixty special rites were performed. Forty-two rites were recorded on a movie camera and tape recorder. Passing religious rites, the girl voluntarily refused to eat and drink.
On the morning of July 1, 1976, Annelise was found dead in her own bed. After the autopsy, the doctors concluded that the girl had died of exhaustion and dehydration.
After the death of Mikhel, there was a noisy trial, which caused a great resonance in society. The parents of the deceased and two priests who performed the exorcism were charged with criminal inaction that led to the death of a young girl. As a result, the defendants were sentenced to three years of probation.
The creepy life story of Anneliese Michel has become the basis of many films and books. The most famous film adaptation was the horror film The Six Demons of Emily Rose.
The death of the girl caused fierce controversy in the religious communities of Germany and raised the question of the limits of freedom of faith.
