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Body Donation

All anatomical specimens on display in the BODY WORLDS exhibitions are real.

They come from people who, during their lifetime, declared that their bodies should be made available after death for the training of doctors and the education of lay people.

Many donors stress that, in this way, they can benefit other people after their death. Through their selfless donation, they give us unique insights into the human body, insights which until now were reserved for doctors. For this we thank the living and already deceased body donors.

Facts & Figures

The Heidelberg Institute for Plastination runs its own body donation programme with 19,416 registered body donors (as of April 2020).

Number of body donors
Worldwide 19.416
Europa (including Germany) 18.019
Germany 17.348
America (North, Central and South America) 1.371
Other countries 26

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Motivations

People decide to donate their body for plastination after death for very diverse reasons:

My body is too valuable to be burned or buried in the ground. This instruction is my own free will.

It is nice to know that my body will still serve a good purpose after my death. I would like to thank the people who make this possible.

The body is only the shell that makes up a person. After death, it is important to live on in the memory of the bereaved. In my opinion, we do not need a grave, a tombstone or a place where we mourn or remember for this.

I myself am a recipient of an organ donation (kidney) and with the donation of my body want to be useful for science and teaching.

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Contact

What con I know?
What should I do? What can I hope for?
What is man?
Immanuel Kant
1724 - 1804, philosopher

Get in touch with us. We’ll be happy to answer all your questions: Body Donation Office
Website

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Technique of plastination!

Thanks to the plastination technique, the interior of the body can now be depicted in more detail than ever before. The specimens remain dry, odourless and...

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Philosophy

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Dr Gunther von Hagens

Dr. Gunther von Hagens ist Mediziner, Wissenschaftler, Erfinder und ein Vorwärtsdenker, der die Anatomie des menschlichen Körpers in beispielloser Weise einem breiten Publikum zugänglich gemacht hat.
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Company Network

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