Illfurth: hell in Alsace

Summary:

In 1864, the Alsatian village of Illfurth (Haut-Rhin), not far from Mulhouse, had a population of around 1,200. The Bürner family had lived there for many years, and was well liked in the village. The father worked as a travelling salesman throughout the region. His wife, Marie-Anne, looked after their five children, including Thiébaut, the eldest, and his brother Joseph, aged 9 and 7 respectively, both of whom attended the village primary school and were considered pleasant, quiet pupils of average intelligence.

It all began in autumn 1864. Up until then in perfect health, Joseph and Thiébaut suddenly fell ill; no doctor, including the competent and reputable Dr Lévy from Altkirch, could work out what was going on. The children were given cinchona wine and chloroform to breathe in during their convulsions... to no avail. None of the remedies had the slightest effect and the boys' general condition deteriorated seriously. The successive symptoms were beyond any medical interpretation: insomnia, fevers, body aches, loss of appetite, nightmares, etc.

On September 25, 1865, the village was in a commotion: the children, lying on their backs, had been seen spinning very fast like human spinning tops, without any visible physical force causing such a rotation. For long minutes afterwards, they began to strike their bedsteads and bedroom furniture with a force beyond their natural capabilities. Suddenly seized by convulsions and spasms, they lay on the floor for hours. They appeared to be dead and their bodies became rigid. Both children complained of mysterious stings all over their bodies. When they took off their clothes, the floor of the room was covered in feathers and kelp.

In the weeks that followed, Thiébaut and Joseph suffered inexplicable hunger pangs. Their stomachs began to swell and their faces changed horribly. Another phenomenon was utterly shocking: sitting on a wooden chair, one or other of the children was lifted off the ground several times, to a height of several dozen centimetres.

The two brothers then went to bed, completely exhausted. Brought up Catholic, they now had a total aversion to anything religious. Their language became garrulous, but only about religious subjects: Jesus was the "clown of the cross"; priests "black skirts"; the church a "pigsty to eat in"; the parish priest of Illfurth, Father Charles Brey, a "bastard", etc. The mere mention of Jesus, Mary or Joseph made them burst with anger. When a blessed object, a crucifix, a medal or a rosary was brought close to them, they became angry and their eyes took on a terrifying look. They complained of seeing "ghosts" (about seven of them) that filled them with terror. Thiébaut explained that he had been visited around thirty times by a monster hovering over his bed and threatening to strangle him. According to his description, this apparition was covered in feathers, had the head of a duck and had the claws of a cat and the hooves of a horse.

These extraordinary states alternated with phases of respite that became shorter and shorter over time. When they came to, the children remembered absolutely nothing.

The people of Illfurth were greatly disturbed. The uncontrollable fury that seized the children at the slightest mention of anything religious, or when a consecrated host was brought close to them (even when it was concealed in a bag) baffled everyone, Fr. Brey in particular. The two brothers were now successfully predicting future events. Another phenomenon led the authorities to call in the Bishop of Strasbourg: the two brothers could now understand foreign languages they had never spoken before: Latin, English, German ...

After the doctors had failed, the brothers were entrusted to two nuns from Niederbronn, Sisters Severa and Methula. From their first meeting, the two sisters were terrified: Thiébaut and Joseph told them details of events known only to them. On another occasion, the two nuns talked to the children about the ills that plagued them. One of them claimed that their convulsions were caused by nerves. Thiébaut laughed and declared: "The yapping lady from Altkirch doesn't believe it." Immediately, a copper crucifix, which had been placed around Joseph's neck, twisted and took the shape of an X until it was removed.

Father Brey sent a detailed report to Mgr Raess, Bishop of Strasbourg, who until then had received only fragmentary information. The prelate appointed three priests to investigate on site. An initial report was drawn up, showing the inexplicable origin of the phenomena. But what could be done immediately? The children were suffering, but should they be hospitalised in a specialised unit (at the time, some doctors superficially suggested mental disorders)? Since no cure had been found for them, shouldn't they be exorcised? Together or separately?

Then the sub-prefect of Mulhouse, Mr Dubois de Jansigny, at the request of the prefect of the Haut-Rhin, asked brigadier Werner of the gendarmerie and Dr Krafft, the forensic doctor, for an official report on the events at Illfurth. Dr Krafft, who had been delegated to observe the boys, could not believe his eyes. Unable to provide the slightest explanation for what had happened, he hastily declared: "I don't see any witches or devils; it looks like Saint Vitus dance." Then, citing a train to catch, he left Illfurth in a hurry.

In February 1868, Thiébaut was suddenly struck deaf. Strangely enough, when he had a crisis, the infirmity disappeared and Thiébaut could hear very well again. Father Brey first thought the boy was pretending. He fired five pistol shots near him, but the poor boy didn't notice a thing.

In May 1868, a new strategy was adopted: the Benedictine monks of the Swiss abbey of Einsiedeln were called to the rescue. A prayer of deliverance was said over the two boys. But nothing changed.

On Sunday, October 3, 1869, Thiébaut was taken by force, with the help of three strong men, to the chapel of the Saint-Charles orphanage in Schiltigheim, on the outskirts of Strasbourg. An occult power prevented him from walking; he was enraged, even though he was blindfolded and didn't know where he was being taken. He barked, threatened, swore and shouted with rage. Father Souquat, the diocesan priest in charge of the exorcism for Bishop Raess, and several nuns accompanied him.

For the first three days, the child remained curiously calm and completely silent. On the fourth day, things changed. When asked to reveal his name, the demon through Thiébaut's mouth said he was the "prince of darkness, prince of hell, commander of a legion of devils in the air". The exorcism began. When Father Souquat pronounced the words: "Holy Mary, pray for us, holy angels and archangels, pray for us, from the snares of the devil, deliver us Lord ", the boy's expression changed. His eyes were filled with hatred; he shouted and tried to bite the exorcist's hand ferociously, despite the three men holding him back. After another evocation of the Virgin, he shouted: "Get out of the pigsty, you bastard!" Then the priest questioned poor Thiébaut in German, to which he replied immediately, even though the child had never learnt the language. After three hours, the ritual was over. Thiébaut was not delivered yet. It was decided to exorcise him again the following day.

On Monday, October 4, Thiébaut was taken to the same place. This time, he was bound in a straitjacket. No sooner had he sat down in the chair intended for him than it rose above the ground despite the efforts of the three men present to hold it down.

The dialogue, punctuated by prayers, continued between the exorcist and the possessed. The witnesses were terrified when they heard Thiébaut's voice: it was no longer a childish, human voice, but a "mysterious, glaucous, guttural, hateful" voice, they said.

Urged to leave, the demon screamed: "I don't want to, you have no power over me, my time has not yet come. I'm staying here. Hell is no fun." The exorcist then approached Thiébaut, holding in his hand a small statue of the Virgin Mary, which he placed over the boy's face and commanded with a loud voice: "Impure spirit, flee from the face of the Immaculate Virgin!" A dull creak was heard. Thiébaut opened his eyes and looked around. His features were his own again, calm and serene. He was very surprised to see so many people and had no memory of what has just happened. His hearing was now perfect: he was finally delivered.

When he was taken back to his parents' home he didn't recognise his own brother Joseph, who was still possessed. He gave Joseph some religious medals that had been slipped into his pocket. Joseph threw them violently to the ground in disgust.

On October 27, 1869, it was Joseph's turn to be exorcised in the chapel of the Burnkirch cemetery, near Illfurth. His arms and legs were bound with a thick rope. Despite this, he managed to free himself and was forced to be bound even more tightly. He let out "inarticulate cries", "yapping like a little dog", "snarling like a swine", hurling insults here and there at those present, including the mayor of Sélestat and the director of the Régie de Sélestat.

Father Brey was put in charge of the exorcism. He began by celebrating mass. Joseph became agitated. He seemed totally absent. His features were inexpressive. When the priest said: "I adjure you, in the name of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, to leave this child", Joseph screamed: "Why does this one have to come now with his great lady? Now I have to leave". It was a trick. It took a long time for things to return to normal. At one point, the demon told the priest that he was certainly going to leave, not for hell, but for a "herd of pigs" or a "herd of geese" or a "herd of sheep".

Suddenly, Joseph's cheeks swelled abnormally, turned to the right and then to the left very suddenly, as if his body were being shaken by an invisible hand. Finally, after one last convulsive spasm, everything returned to normal. Joseph was now freed, like his brother.

The two former possessed died young: Thiébaut died on April 3, 1871, aged 16; his brother Joseph married and settled in Zillisheim, where he died on January 13, 1884, aged 27. Father Brey died in the odour of sanctity in 1895, aged 68.

In 1872, with the money from the sale of a short book he had written, Father Brey had a cast-iron statue of the Virgin erected to celebrate the liberation of the two brothers. Standing on a two-metre-high pedestal, its base bears the following inscription: "In perpetual memory of the deliverance of the two possessed Thiébaut and Joseph Bürner, obtained through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate, in the year of our Lord 1869."

Beyond reasons to believe:

The events in Illfurth, which cannot be explained scientifically, changed not only the life of one family for five years, but also that of an entire village, where nothing like it had ever happened before.

Going further:

R.P. Sutter, Le Diable. Ses paroles, son action chez les possédés d'Illfurth, Ed. Saint-Sébastien, 2016, available online (in French)

More information:

• Article "Vexation, Obsession, & Possession: The Extraordinary Ways the Devil Attacks"

• Exorcism: The Battle Against Satan and His Demons by Fr. Vincent P. Lampert, Emmaus Road Publishing (September 24, 2020)

• An Exorcist Explains the Demonic: The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels by Fr. Gabriele Amorth, Sophia Inst Pr (October 31, 2016)