Prelude

BODY WORLDS—The Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies

An Anatomical Success Story

Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS is the first anatomical exhibition of preserved human bodies, which was made available to the wide public. Since its initial installation in Japan in 1995, more than 25 million visitors in over 40 cities in Asia, Europe, and North America have seen what is considered the world’s most successful traveling exhibition.

“The presentation of the pure physical reminds visitors to BODY WORLDS of the intangible and the unfathomable. The plastinated post-mortal body illuminates the soul by its very absence.

Plastination transforms the body, an object of individualmourning, into an object of reverence, learning, enlightenment, and appreciation.

I hope for BODY WORLDS to be a place of enlightenment and contemplation, even of philosophical and religious self-recognition, and open to interpretation regardless of the background and philosophy of life of the viewer.“

The Poker Playing Trio, 2006.

After more than a decade, BODY WORLDS is still very popular. This success is not the least based on the high didactic value of the exhibition which aims at teaching the medical lay person about anatomy. Focus is the education of the human body, its functions, diseases, and physical changes. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from visitors to the exhibitions has inspired Gunther von Hagens to present to a wide audience the continuously improved process of plastination in a transparent laboratory.  In the fall of 2006, he opened the PLASTINARIUM in Guben, Brandenburg / Germany, where visitors can experience BODY WORLDS live.

Click here for more information about the PLASTINARIUM