In 1977, Gunther von Hagens invented plastination, allowing human bodies to be preserved for years. Decades later, the technique produced Body Worlds, sparking worldwide fascination and debate over displaying human remains

In 1977, Gunther von Hagens created a technique that changed the way human anatomy could be displayed. Known as plastination, the method preserved human bodies by replacing their natural fluids with polymers. Decades later, the technique became the foundation of “BODY WORLDS,” a traveling exhibition of real human bodies that attracted millions of visitors while also provoking intense debate over the display of human remains.

Now, von Hagens, who died in July at 81 after a cerebral hemorrhage and years of living with Parkinson’s disease, has become part of the work himself. At his request, his own body will be plastinated, as per The Guardian.

How did von Hagens develop plastination?

Born in 1945 in what is now western Poland, von Hagens studied medicine in communist East Germany before moving to West Germany in 1970. While working as an anatomical assistant at the University of Heidelberg, he saw specimens preserved inside clear plastic blocks.

The idea fascinated him. He wondered whether the process could be reversed by putting plastic inside the specimen instead.

“You are an idiot. You cannot do it,” a curator told him, according to von Hagens’ recollection on BBC’s “Friday Night With Jonathan Ross” in 2008.

“And this boggled my mind.”

By 1977, he had produced his first plastinated specimen, a kidney. He continued refining the technique, eventually developing the process used for “BODY WORLDS.”

Plastination begins by fixing a body with formaldehyde to eliminate bacteria. The body is then dissected, with skin, fatty tissue and connective tissue removed. It is placed in acetone to remove water and soluble fats before being transferred into liquid polymer such as silicone rubber, polyester or epoxy resin.

A vacuum causes the acetone to vaporize while polymer fills microscopic spaces inside the specimen. The body is then cured. According to the material provided, completing the process requires about 1,500 working hours.

Why did ‘BODY WORLDS’ become so controversial?

The first “BODY WORLDS” exhibition opened at Tokyo University in 1995, displaying posed and plastinated human bodies. It later travelled internationally, attracting visitors while generating criticism.

In the early 2000s, a rabbi and a novelist compared the work with Nazi crimes, while a reverend criticized von Hagens, saying he “plays with the corpses like a child plays with dolls,” according to the Associated Press’ Geir Moulson.

Von Hagens defended his work as a way of challenging deeply held ideas about death and the human body.

“An anatomist “is forced in his daily work to reject the taboos and convictions that people have about death and the dead,” he said, per the AP. “I touch here a taboo, which is our body, and nothing is so near as our body is to us.”

Despite the controversy, “BODY WORLDS” became remarkably popular. Its organizers say more than 58 million people have visited the exhibitions across 42 countries and six continents.

Von Hagens also believed the exhibitions connected people directly with their own anatomy. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times’ Diane Haithman in 2004, he said, “Before the exhibitions, when I used to give lectures, I noticed that the cleaning lady and the doorman were more interested than my colleagues.”

“That is what makes plastination different—they start to identify with the specimens.”

The New York Times’ Edward Rothstein similarly praised the exhibition in a 2013 review, writing, “You are actually seeing the forces of life on display in this dead matter, and those forces are extraordinary.”

What happens to von Hagens’ own body?

Von Hagens’ decision to donate his own body to science follows the same path taken by thousands of others. According to “BODY WORLDS,” around 22,000 people, most of them German, have registered to donate their bodies to the program.

His wife, curator and physician Angelina Whalley, said in a statement from “BODY WORLDS,” “Gunther wanted to give people the opportunity to look beneath the skin—not out of sensationalism, but from the deep conviction that knowledge of one’s own body can contribute to a more conscious, healthier, responsible life.”

“His work was scientific, educational and deeply humanistic. He enabled millions of people to see their own bodies in a new light.”

His son, Rurik, said, “My father never accepted that boundaries were fixed. He brought anatomy out of the closed world of specialists and into society. His courage, his perseverance and his unwavering belief that education serves humanity will continue to guide us.”

Today, plastination is practiced in around 400 laboratories worldwide. Von Hagens’ own body will now enter the discipline he helped establish, leaving behind a technique that transformed anatomical education while continuing to raise questions about how society views death, the human body and the display of human remains.

FAQs

What is plastination?
A method of preserving bodies with polymers.

What is BODY WORLDS?
An exhibition of plastinated human bodies.