Body Donation

All
anatomical specimens,
on display in the BODY WORLDS exhibitions
are real.
They belonged to people who declared during their lifetime that their bodies should be made available after their deaths for the training of physicians and the instruction of laypersons.
Many donors underscore that by donating their body, they want to be useful to others even after their death. Their selfless donations allow us to gain unique insights into the human body, which had previously been reserved for physicians. Therefore, we wish to thank the living and deceased body donors.

Facts
& Figures
The Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany is the administrator of the body donation program for plastination. It has a roster of more than 22,000 registered body donors (as of January 2025), the majority of the donors are German.
Number of Body Donors | |
---|---|
Worldwide | 22,630 |
Europe (including Germany) | 21,249 |
Germany | 20,562 |
America (North-, Mid- and South-America) | 1,352 |
Other countries | 29 |
What can I know?
What may I hope?
What is human?
1724 – 1804, German philosopher
For more information and downloads visit:
BODY DONATION WEBSITE