Gunther von Hagens, inventor of plastination, dies at 81
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- Gunther von Hagens died on 24 July at age 81 in a Heidelberg hospital, a day after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage; he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2008.
- Plastination, the technique von Hagens developed in 1977 at the University of Heidelberg's pathology institute, replaces bodily fluids and soluble fat with resins, silicon rubbers and epoxies to preserve cadavers in rigid, lifelike poses.
- Body Worlds exhibitions, launched in 1995 and curated with von Hagens' second wife Angelina Whalley, drew more than 50 million visitors globally but faced persistent criticism over foetal specimens and the ethics of using infant and animal bodies.
- Von Hagens' Institute for Plastination confirmed his own body will be plastinated per his long-held wish — he had written in the Guardian in 2018 he could envision it "standing in a welcoming pose at the entrance of an exhibition, or rendered into slices and distributed across various sites" — though the display site has not been determined.
- Von Hagens, born Gunther Gerhard Liebchen in Nazi-occupied Poland in January 1945, grew up in East Germany, was imprisoned in 1969 for trying to flee west, and was bought out to West Germany the following year for 40,000 deutschmarks.
Why it matters: Von Hagens' death now activates his own body as the next plastination specimen, putting the institute's consent and ethics controversies back in public view. With Body Worlds having drawn more than 50 million visitors worldwide, the question of who authorises display — and in what pose — moves from donors to the anatomist himself.
