Our History

While working as an anatomical assistant at the University of Heidelberg, Dr. Gunther von Hagens ponders why specimens are embedded in plastic blocks rather than using plastics it to stabilize the specimen from within.

During a research project on human kidneys, Dr. von Hagens is inspired to invent what is latter known as plastination. Following intensive experimentation and research, on January 10, 1977 he held the first plastinate in his hands. He realizes that this invention will become his life’s work.

Dr. von Hagens spends the next twenty years at the Anatomical Institute of the Heidelberg University as lecturer and scientist. During this time, he continuously enhances his method of plastination, and makes further inventions, such as the plastination of thin translucent Sheet Plastinates. Many patents follow in various countries, particularly in the U.S.A.

The benefits of plastinated specimens are being noticed at professional conferences. In order to scale the presence of the plastination process at an international level, Dr. von Hagens founded BIODUR. Today BIODUR continues to supply consumables and equipment for plastination to the international community.

The first conference for plastination is held in Texas (USA), and the International Society for Plastination (ISP) is founded. From then on international plastination conferences have been held every two years.

In conjunction with the existing University of Heidelberg’s body donation program, Dr. von Hagens established a specific body donation program for plastination. Governance of the body donation program was later moved to the Institute for Plastination. Today, there are more than 20,000 donors registered in the body donation program; a majority of the donors are German citizens.

Completion of the first Whole Body Plastinate.

The plastination method continues to evolve and eventually outgrows its home at the university. To manage, Dr. von Hagens founded the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, which to this day manages the body donation program for all plastination requirements, including von Hagens Plastination and the BODY WORLDS exhibitions. 

Plastinated specimens are presented as a BODY WORLDS exhibition for the first time at the National Science Museum in Tokyo. The exhibition is unexpectedly successful; it was visited by nearly half a million people in only four months.

Plastinates are shown for the first time in Germany. Unlike in Japan, the BODY WORLDS exhibition in Germany is accompanied by public controversy, but they continue to draw a wide audience.

Thanks to innovative developments of polymers and plastination, Silicone Plastinates, Slices, Casts, and Anatomy Glass become available.

Dr. von Hagens is named a visiting professor at New York University College of Dentistry. The University is one of the first to use plastinated specimens in place of formalin-fixed cadavers.

Dr. von Hagens begins to look for a facility in Germany to house and expand his work in plastination, specifically to resource international medical teaching and training. He identifies space in Guben (Germany), at the German-Polish border, located about two hours from Berlin. The buildings used to serve as a factory for textiles and hats but had been abandoned since the early 90's, shortly after German reunification.

Following renovation and refurbishment, the Plastinarium in Guben opens its doors to the public as an open laboratory and exhibition space, where visitors can witness dissection firsthand and see new and rare plastinated specimens. Transparency and democratization are core values at the heart of the company.

New developments allow for plastinated body slices (Sheet Plastinates) to be differentially colored. The coloration provides optimized visualization of body tissues and regions, including dense and loose connective tissues, muscle, neural tissue and fascial spaces. The learning of cross-sectional anatomy is changed forever!

Plastination entered new dimensions with the plastination of the first large animal, an elephant known as “Samba.” After completing the world’s first specimen of its kind, Dr. von Hagens and curator Dr. Angelina Whalley created a new exhibition: BODY WORLDS of Animals, internationally known as ANIMAL INSIDE OUT.

 Dr. von Hagens reveals his Parkinson’s Diagnosis and begins plans to appoint a leadership team that will allow him to focus on his health.

Dr. Vladimir Chereminskiy is appointed as Director of Anatomy and Plastination.  Dr. Chereminskiy took his first course in plastination under Dr. von Hagens in 1996, and quickly became a world leader in plastination. He has been working continually under Dr. von Hagens since 2006.

Rurik von Hagens accepts the role of Managing Director in Guben. As Dr. von Hagens son, Rurik has always been involved in some way with his father’s work. Prior to joining von Hagens Plastination, his Master’s level study in Business Science led him to manage projects for an international firm, primarily in Germany, Korea and Australia.

The Association of Science Technology Centers (ASTC) recognized Dr. von Hagens –– for lifetime achievement and outstanding contribution to the public understanding of science.

The facilities at von Hagens Plastination expand to include an area dedicated to creating brain slices.

A team of specialists at the plastination center in Guben is dedicated to completing and producing unique and extraordinary orders for plastinates, including a 200 kg (440.9 lbs) blue whale heart for the Royal Ontario Museum.

FR:EIA (Fascia Revealed: Educating Interconnected Anatomy) the first human 3-D fascia plastinate shows the complex and extremely unstable connective tissue network down to the smallest detail on an entire body. It is the only specimen of its kind worldwide – on display at the BODY WORLDS Museum in Berlin.

A new 5,000-square-meter facility dedicated to the production of skeletal material is opened. The facility will allow teaching institutions to replace historic bone collections, for which donor consent is often absent.

Plastination is an internationally recognized scientific process. There are now more than 400 universities in 80 countries around the world using plastination to prepare specimens for academic study. 

Dr. Gunther von Hagens and the team at von Hagens Plastination are involved in a large number of projects, in particular the further development and perfection of plastination, special plastics and process engineering.