The Rosenheim Poltergeist

In late 1967, a law office in the Bavarian town of Rosenheim became the site of one of the most thoroughly investigated poltergeist cases on record. Light bulbs exploded, pictures rotated on walls, drawers opened by themselves, and the office phone repeatedly called the speaking clock - all documented by physicists, journalists, and investigators. The case centered on a 19-year-old secretary named Annemarie Schneider.

The Setting

Sigmund Adam’s Law Office

The disturbances occurred at:

• A law firm on Königstraße 13
• Owned by lawyer Sigmund Adam
• A busy professional environment
• Normal operations until autumn 1967

The Beginning

In late October 1967:

• Fluorescent lights began failing repeatedly
• The phone system malfunctioned constantly
• Electrical fuses blew without cause
• Office equipment behaved erratically

The Phenomena

Electrical Disturbances

Documented events included:

• Light bulbs exploding spontaneously
• Fluorescent tubes unscrewing themselves and falling
• Lights swinging violently on their own
• Electrical fuses blowing repeatedly
• Massive power surges recorded on monitoring equipment

Phone Anomalies

The telephone system showed:

• Bills for thousands of calls to the speaking clock (time service)
• Four calls per minute to the same number
• Impossible call volumes
• Phones ringing with no caller
• Connections breaking randomly

Physical Disturbances

Staff witnessed:

• Desk drawers opening by themselves
• Pictures rotating on the walls (up to 360 degrees)
• Filing cabinets moving
• Furniture shifting position
• Documents falling from shelves

Documented Incidents

Specific recorded events:

• A 400-pound filing cabinet moved repeatedly
• A hanging lamp swung in circles
• Paintings turned to face the wall
• Liquid spilled from containers without tipping
• Loud banging sounds with no source

The Investigation

Initial Response

Sigmund Adam:

• Called electricians who found no faults
• Contacted the power company
• Had new wiring installed
• The problems continued

The Power Company

Stadtwerke Rosenheim:

• Installed monitoring equipment
• Recorded massive unexplained power spikes
• Found no electrical explanation
• Eliminated external causes
• Disconnected from the main grid (problems continued)

Independent Power Supply

To test electrical sources:

• A generator was installed
• The office ran on independent power
• The disturbances continued unchanged
• This eliminated power grid explanations

The Post Office

Deutsche Bundespost investigated:

• The excessive phone calls to 0119 (speaking clock)
• Installed recording equipment
• Confirmed calls were being made
• But the dial took 17 seconds - calls registered every 3-4 seconds
• Physically impossible to dial that fast

Scientific Investigation

Professor Hans Bender

Germany’s leading parapsychologist:

• Head of the Freiburg Institute
• Began formal investigation in December 1967
• Brought scientific methodology
• Documented everything meticulously

The Physics Team

Bender brought physicists:

• Dr. Friedbert Karger (Max Planck Institute)
• Dr. Gerhard Zicha
• They monitored with scientific instruments
• They ruled out known physical causes

Their Findings

The physicists concluded:

• The events were genuine
• No electrical or mechanical explanation existed
• Something was causing real physical effects
• The source appeared to be non-physical

Documentation

The case included:

• Film footage of swinging lamps
• Recorded electrical anomalies
• Phone company records
• Written testimony from dozens of witnesses
• Physical measurements of effects

The Focus: Annemarie Schneider

The Discovery

Investigators noticed:

• Disturbances only occurred during working hours
• They stopped when the office was empty
• They followed a pattern related to one person
• 19-year-old secretary Annemarie Schneider

The Correlation

When Annemarie was present:

• The phenomena occurred
• When she was absent, they stopped
• This was tested multiple times
• The connection was undeniable

Her State

Annemarie was described as:

• Emotionally troubled
• Frustrated in her work
• Unhappy in her life circumstances
• Not consciously causing events
• Distressed by the attention

Her Departure

When Annemarie:

• Left the law firm in January 1968
• The disturbances at Adam’s office stopped completely
• She worked briefly at other places
• Minor disturbances followed her initially
• They eventually ceased entirely

Analysis

The Pattern

The case showed classic poltergeist characteristics:

• Centered on a young person
• Emotional stress as a factor
• Physical disturbances
• Eventually ending on their own

The Uniqueness

What made Rosenheim special:

• Scientific documentation
• Multiple independent investigators
• Technical monitoring equipment
• Physical measurements
• High-credibility witnesses (lawyers, physicists, officials)

Skeptical Response

Critics have argued:

• Annemarie could have faked some events
• Mass suggestion influenced perception
• The investigators wanted to believe
• Some events may have been misinterpreted

Defense

Supporters counter:

• The phone calls were physically impossible to fake
• Events occurred when Annemarie wasn’t in the room
• Physicists couldn’t find conventional explanations
• The monitoring equipment was objective

Aftermath

Annemarie’s Life

After Rosenheim:

• She married and moved away
• The phenomena never returned
• She rarely discussed the case
• She lived a normal life
• She died in 2018

The Investigation’s Legacy

The case became:

• A cornerstone of poltergeist research
• Subject of documentaries
• Referenced in countless studies
• One of the most credible cases on record

Sigmund Adam’s Office

After Annemarie left:

• Normal operations resumed
• No further disturbances occurred
• The office continued as a law firm
• The mystery remained unsolved

What Does It Mean?

Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK)

The theory proposes:

• Unconscious psychokinetic ability
• Triggered by stress or emotional turmoil
• Usually in adolescents or young adults
• The “agent” is unaware they’re causing events
• It typically stops when circumstances change

Problems with RSPK

Critics note:

• No mechanism for human psychokinesis exists
• Why would stress cause electrical effects?
• The theory is unfalsifiable
• It explains nothing mechanistically

Alternative Views

Some propose:

• Unknown natural phenomena
• Electromagnetic anomalies
• Coincidence and misinterpretation
• Deliberate fraud

Legacy

Scientific Importance

The Rosenheim case:

• Demonstrated rigorous methodology in paranormal investigation
• Showed physical events could be documented
• Challenged explanatory frameworks
• Remains compelling decades later

Cultural Impact

The case influenced:

• German parapsychology
• Poltergeist research worldwide
• Public understanding of the phenomenon
• Subsequent investigations

The Question

In a Bavarian law office, lights exploded, phones called themselves, and furniture moved.

Scientists watched. Cameras recorded. Instruments measured.

It centered on a teenage secretary who didn’t know what was happening or why.

When she left, it stopped.

The physicists couldn’t explain it. The phone company couldn’t explain it. The power company couldn’t explain it.

Fifty years of scientific advancement later, we still can’t explain it.

Something happened in Rosenheim in 1967 and 1968. Something real. Something documented. Something that shouldn’t be possible.

The Rosenheim Poltergeist. One of the most credible cases in paranormal history.

And we’re no closer to understanding how a frustrated teenage girl apparently bent the laws of physics around her.