Plastination was initially used to preserve small specimens for medical study. It was not until the early nineties that the equipment was developed to make it possible to plastinate whole body specimens. The first exhibition of whole bodies was held in Japan in 1995. Over the next two years, Von Hagens developed the Body Worlds exhibition, showing whole bodies plastinated in lifelike poses and dissected to show various structures and systems of human anatomy, which has since met with public interest and controversy in more than 50 cities around the world.
Plastination is a laborious process with each specimen taking up to 1,500 man hours to prepare. A giraffe took three years to complete; an elephant took 64,000 hours. Dr von Hagens plastinated human bodies too, which is the source of all controversy.
A collection of 20 animals are currently on display at the Cologne Zoo. The exhibition starts today, April 15, 2011, and will run till the end of September 2011.





Dr Gunther von Hagens and his wife in front of a plastinated 3.2 tonne elephant at last year's exhibition.







