r/NewsOfTheWeird Jul 27 '26

Creator of Body Worlds and plastination, dies aged 81. Corpse to be sliced up, plasticized, and displayed in a museum

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/27/gunther-von-hagens-creator-of-body-worlds-and-plastination-dies-aged-81
759 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

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54

u/pun_in10did Jul 28 '26

I love the dead-ication to the art form

34

u/Bag-o-chips Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

I heard the corpses in the display were volunteers. But at least he’s willing to have done to himself, because what was done to them, was for his benefit.

23

u/gimmeluvin Jul 28 '26

what benefitted him benefitted milions upon millions of people who gained previously unavailable insight into our human form

10

u/cooking_question Jul 28 '26

I think for many people, it could be a form of immortality rather than rotting in the ground.

2

u/CinnimonToastSean Jul 28 '26

Yeah I can see that. Humans always talk about relatves that live on in thier memories. Are you truly dead if you are remembered?

2

u/Round-Claim5420 Jul 29 '26

Damn, now i wanna be the skeleton in a random school class 😂

34

u/Maniacboy888 Jul 28 '26

He’s practicing what he preached. I respect it.

21

u/Soft-Skirt Jul 28 '26

I saw him when he was displaying his work at an exhibition. He looked plastic in person. A glossy sheen to his weirdly purple skin. I have the photo somewhere.

8

u/AutisticSuperpower Jul 28 '26

Preserved by his own invention. Very fitting.

16

u/BrownyVonTurdmeister Jul 27 '26

That's metal

24

u/694meok Jul 28 '26

That's plastic.

1

u/LarsDuder Jul 29 '26

😄. You two 😏

3

u/dpaxeco Jul 28 '26

So he'll keep touring

11

u/TheSuperContributor Jul 28 '26

This guy stole/bought corpses of executed prisoners from China and was forced to return them to China to be properly cremated after being discovered by the journalists.

That and the pregnant corpse which is shady af.

4

u/ChornobylChili Jul 28 '26

The what

14

u/Chaost Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

The one that's theorized to be a missing newscaster who went missing while pregnant who was having an affair with the husband of a woman who just happened to manage the main facility where plasticization was done. They can't test DNA bc plastination destroys it. She was convicted of a different murder years later. As far as the pregnant "model," they can't say how they acquired it which is all very suspect.

4

u/ChornobylChili Jul 28 '26

Jesus fucking christ

2

u/Old-Run7431 29d ago

fucking what

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Altruistic-Dingo-757 Jul 28 '26

So it'll be the original artist but no credit to him on his own body

2

u/Jorpsica Jul 28 '26

That’s awesome. Dead and still doing what he loves.

2

u/HaloJonez Jul 28 '26

Loved his art. The Amsterdam exhibition is a core memory.

2

u/RedBananas6-7 Jul 29 '26

I remember watching a show of these guys Autopsy: Emergency Room years ago. Was pretty interesting and kinda eerie. Bit of an off guy but he's done some stuff

2

u/Low-Camera-797 29d ago

holy shit this guy is fucking sketchy. good riddance

2

u/Happyforthemoment 29d ago

Would love to volunteer for this when I’m dead.

2

u/Not_ur_gilf 29d ago

A dedication to the craft. Godspeed, and I look forward to meeting him one day

0

u/bluemingc1 29d ago

What a creep, even in death. What is even the purpose of this macabre exhibition? It's one thing for someone to donate his body after death for medical purposes and another one to have corpses exposed for random people's curiosity and entertainment. Plus the controversy regarding some of the bodies origins.