Girl in the Basement is based on the true story of Elisabeth Fritzl, a young Austrian woman who was imprisoned by her father, Josef Fritzl, from 1984 to 2008.
According to Oxygen, on August 28, 1984, Josef lured Elisabeth to the basement of their home and placed an ether-soaked rag on her face; after she passed out, he handcuffed her and locked her in the underground prison.
Josef then coerced Elisabeth into writing a letter to her mother, Rosemarie, stating that she had left her hometown of Amstetten, Austria and did not want to be found.
Over the next 24 years, Josef sexually assaulted Elisabeth almost every day. In 1988, she had her first child, Kerstin, and subsequently gave birth to six more children — Stefan, Lisa, Monika, Alexander, Michael, and Felix — but unfortunately, Michael died three days after birth.
As the years passed, Josef removed some of the children from the basement and told Rosemarie that they had been sent by Elisabeth, who needed help to raise them. Rosemarie believed him, and they began to foster the children as foundlings.
On April 19, 2008, Elisabeth emerged from the basement for the first time when her eldest daughter, Kerstin, lost consciousness. She returned to the basement shortly after Kerstin was brought to the hospital, but one week later, she was brought to the police for questioning after hospital staff expressed concerns to authorities. After many hours, Elisabeth detailed her harrowing story, and on April 26, her father was arrested.
Less than a year after his arrest, Josef plead guilty to murder charges for his negligence in connection with Michael’s death, as well as charges connected to the enslavement, incest, rape, coercion, and false imprisonment of Elisabeth. He was sentenced to life in prison at Garsten Abbey, where he remains to this day.
Is Lifetime’s ‘Girl in the Basement’ a true story? Then where Is Elisabeth Fritzl Now?
Girl in the Basement is based on the true story of Elisabeth Fritzl, a young Austrian woman who was imprisoned by her father, Josef Fritzl, from 1984 to 2008. According to Oxygen, on August 28, 1984, Josef lured Elisabeth to the basement of their home and placed an ether-soaked rag on her face; after she passed out, he handcuffed her and locked her in the underground prison. Josef then coerced Elisabeth into writing a letter to her mother, Rosemarie, stating that she had left her hometown of Amstetten, Austria and did not want to be found.
Over the next 24 years, Josef sexually assaulted Elisabeth almost every day. In 1988, she had her first child, Kerstin, and subsequently gave birth to six more children — Stefan, Lisa, Monika, Alexander, Michael, and Felix — but unfortunately, Michael died three days after birth.
As the years passed, Josef removed some of the children from the basement and told Rosemarie that they had been sent by Elisabeth, who needed help to raise them. Rosemarie believed him, and they began to foster the children as foundlings.
On April 19, 2008, Elisabeth emerged from the basement for the first time when her eldest daughter, Kerstin, lost consciousness. She returned to the basement shortly after Kerstin was brought to the hospital, but one week later, she was brought to the police for questioning after hospital staff expressed concerns to authorities. After many hours, Elisabeth detailed her harrowing story, and on April 26, her father was arrested.
Less than a year after his arrest, Josef plead guilty to murder charges for his negligence in connection with Michael’s death, as well as charges connected to the enslavement, incest, rape, coercion, and false imprisonment of Elisabeth. He was sentenced to life in prison at Garsten Abbey, where he remains to this day.
WHERE IS ELISABETH FRITZL NOW?
Elisabeth was 18 when she was imprisoned and 42 when she escaped in 2008. The eldest of her six children, whom she had birthed due to her father, needed to be urgently hospitalised. As a result, Elisabeth was allowed by her father to take the child to the hospital. It was the first time in 24 years when she saw sunlight. She was quickly led back to the basement but a suspicious note left behind by Josef perked the hospital staff that led the police to reach the house.
She was then discovered and rescued. According to Meaww, she and her children were immediately shifted to state care and then to a village in Northern Austria where they began therapy. Initially, psychologists suggested lifelong therapy due to the piled up trauma they all suffered from. Elisabeth was granted a new name and identity.
She reportedly lives with her children in a bright and well-lit home so that there's no chance of reminiscing pieces of the past. Her children are now between the ages of 17 and 35. Two of the six children experienced enormous anxiety and panic attacks and had a harder time to recover. On the road to recovery, they were kept on mood-altering drugs, exercise and diet plans owing to their former lifestyle.
According to The Independent, Elisabeth and her mother Rosemarie Fritzl had a strained relationship at first but have now grown closer than ever and repaired their relationship. Josef Fritzl has been sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment in Garsten Abbey and is reportedly suffering from dementia. He has changed his last name to Mayrhoff to live his final days in anonymity.
According to the Mirror, Elisabeth Fritzl was given a new name after the trial to ensure her privacy, and she now lives with her six children in an unidentified town in Austria known by the media as “Village X.”
“The children, now aged between 17 and 31, sleep in rooms with doors permanently open after undergoing weekly therapy sessions to eliminate the traumas they suffered inside the cellar,” reported the Mirror in 2019. “Their two-story family home is kept under constant CCTV surveillance and patrolled by security guards, while any stranger caught lurking nearby can expect to be picked up by police within minutes.”
Fritzl is also reportedly in a relationship with her former bodyguard, Thomas Wagner, who lives with her and her family.
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