Neurological Report of Anneliese Michel

This original medical document, dated August 17, 1969, is a rare and historically charged artifact from the early clinical evaluation of Anneliese Michel—a young woman whose life would later become the epicenter of one of the most controversial exorcism cases in modern history. Issued by the Department of Internal Medicine – Neurological Section at the Städtisches Krankenhaus Schaffhausen, the report details the results of an electroencephalogram (EEG) performed three days prior, revealing paroxysmal activity and periodic spike-wave complexes in the frontotemporal regions. These findings indicated a neurological predisposition to epileptic seizures and marked the beginning of a long and tragic trajectory that would blur the boundaries between medicine, theology, and cultural myth.
At the time of this evaluation, Anneliese was a devout and intellectually gifted young woman. The clinical diagnosis would later intersect with episodes of extreme behavior, interpreted by some as psychiatric in nature and by others as manifestations of possession. Her case, culminating in a sanctioned exorcism and her death in 1976, ignited fierce debate across disciplines—raising questions about institutional responsibility, spiritual belief, and the limits of medical intervention.
This document, preserved in its original form, is not merely a medical report—it is a silent witness to the moment when science first attempted to name what would later defy classification. It is a fragment of a story that reverberated through courtrooms, churches, and cultural memory, and continues to challenge the way we interpret suffering.
Collector’s Note – Dr. Lazarus
This report does not diagnose—it foreshadows. It is a clinical artifact from a life that would become legend, a page where neurology met mystery. I regard it as a relic of epistemological tension, where the language of medicine began to unravel before the weight of belief. To preserve it is to honor the complexity of a case that still resists closure.
 
Doktor Lazarus Archaeologist, Historian, Collector, Independent Curator