Overview
- His family and the Institute for Plastination confirmed that Gunther von Hagens died after a long, serious illness on July 24, 2026 and said they will carry out his long‑expressed wish to have his body plastinated.
- Von Hagens invented the plastination process in 1977 at Heidelberg, a method that preserves tissue by replacing water and fat with polymers so muscles, organs and bones can be shown in lifelike poses.
- He built the Body Worlds exhibitions from the 1990s onward and his team says the shows have been seen by millions worldwide, though published attendance figures vary between reports.
- The exhibitions repeatedly drew legal challenges and official inquiries over consent and the treatment of human remains, with notable court fights in Berlin and an inquiry in Moscow in 2021.
- His death and the plan to plastinate his body close a personal chapter that included a 2010 Parkinson’s diagnosis and public discussion of his wishes, and the move is likely to renew public debate and legal scrutiny over the display of preserved human bodies.