Wonder or fake—investigations in the case of the stigmatisation of Therese Neumann von Konnersreuth

Abstract

We investigated two compresses used by Therese Neumann (T.N.), a woman who lived from 1898 until 1962 in Konnersreuth, Germany. The compresses were soaked with blood during the appearance of stigmata on T.N.'s body on a Friday. T.N. became very popular among the faithful in Germany at this time. The question was whether this blood was from T.N. herself or from a family relative or an animal. The comparison of the HV1 and HV2 mtDNA sequence obtained from the compresses with the sequences from a reference sample from a maternally related niece of T.N. revealed an identity. Furthermore, we obtained a short tandem repeat (STR) profile from the bloodstains that were identical with the STR profile from a gummed envelope. The envelope contained a letter written by T.N. in the 1930s. Therefore, our investigations gave no indication for any manipulation.

Nutrition with ‘Light and Water’?

“…Even sanctifications or explicit acknowledgements by the Catholic Church were based on such 'miraculous' surviving of deeply religious persons. As the Swiss national Saint Niklaus von Flüe [5] centuries ago, or the German nun Therese Neumann von Konnersreuth in recent times [6], and -astonishingly -despite declared systematic checking, no evidence of fakeness could be found in the latter [7]. In this report we describe a 10-day isolation study of a 54-year-old Doctor of Chemistry who claimed to have been 'living on light' as per Jasmuheen, for the previous 2 years.…”