"Body Worlds" exhibitor and corpse plastinator Gunther von Hagens dies
The physician and inventor of plastination, Gunther von Hagens, has died at the age of 81. Von Hagens was the creator of the controversial "Body Worlds" exhibitions, which display the anatomy of the human body.
Corpse plastinator Gunther von Hagens is dead. As his family announced in Heidelberg, he died on Friday at the age of 81. The physician had suffered from Parkinson's disease for many years.
Von Hagens was born in 1945 near Posen (Poznań) in what is now Poland, under the name Gunther Liebchen. He later took the surname of his first wife. He began studying medicine in Jena in 1965, subsequently fell into political imprisonment in East Germany and was bought free by West Germany.
Critics accused him of violating human dignity
In the 1970s, von Hagens developed a technique in Heidelberg for preserving corpses as anatomical specimens. To this end, he founded his own company in the 1990s, the Institute for Plastination.
He became known worldwide through his "Body Worlds" exhibitions, in which he presented plastinates — including those of humans — to the public. Critics of the corpse plastinator view this as a violation of human dignity.
The specimens come from people who stipulated during their lifetime that they wished to donate their bodies for this purpose after death. This was also von Hagens' own wish, according to a statement from his family. "His relatives will respect and carry out this wish."
