This Man Turned Human Corpses Into Popular Museum Displays. Now, the Creator of These Controversial ‘Body Worlds’ Has Donated His Own Body to Science
Gunther von Hagens, who invented plastination, a method of preserving bodies by replacing their natural fluids with polymers, recently died at age 81
Gunther von Hagens, the creator of the popular "BODY WORLDS" museum exhibitions, passed away in July at the age of 81 after battling Parkinson's disease. Von Hagens, who earned the nickname "Doctor Death" for his controversial plastination technique, donated his own body to science as per his own wishes. The plastination process involves replacing a body's natural fluids with resins and elastomers, allowing for cross-sections and detailed anatomical displays.
Von Hagens began this technique in the 1970s and honed it over the years, creating his first plastinated specimen - a kidney - in 1977. The "BODY WORLDS" exhibitions debuted at Tokyo University in 1995, traveling the world and attracting over 58 million visitors in 42 countries. Von Hagens believed that seeing the human body up close could lead to a healthier, more conscious lifestyle. He received over 22,000 body donations from people, mostly Germans, for his plastination program.
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