We prove a posteriori error estimates of optimal order for linearSchrödinger-type equations in the L ∞(L 2)- and theL ∞(H 1)-norm. We discretize only in time by theCrank-Nicolson method. The direct use of the reconstructiontechnique, as it has been proposed by Akrivis et al. in [Math. Comput.75 (2006) 511–531], leads to a posteriori upper bounds thatare of optimal order in the L ∞(L 2)-norm, but ofsuboptimal order in the L ∞(H 1)-norm. The optimality inthe case of L ∞(H 1)-norm is recovered by using anauxiliary initial- and boundary-value problem.