Discover the Mysteries Under your Skin

When you look inside, you'll see the brain looks like a giant, wrinkled walnut.


This brain has been preserved through plastination, which is a groundbreaking method for specimen preservation invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens.  An anatomist and lecturer at University of Heidelberg, Dr. von Hagens invented the palstination technique in 1977 as an alternative to the usual method of preserving specimens by imbedding them in solid blocks of plastic.  He wanted to be able to touch the specimens and examine them more closely.  The value of plastination to anatomy studies was immediately obvious.  Dr. von Hagens spent the next 20 years refining the process, making improvements and modifications as he worked.  

A Place of Enlightenment & Contemplation

"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 individual mourning, 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.” 

—Dr. Gunther von Hagens, Anatomist, Creator of BODY WORLDS