Man Plans To Sell Plasticized Corpses Online

Funeral Industry News October 25, 2010
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Man Plans To Sell Plasticized Corpses Online

image Plasticized corpse huckster Gunther von Hagens is jumping on the grisly express again. The German millionaire bizman scientist is preparing to offer plasticized body parts and entire bodies for sale online, sparking public outrage.

Von Hagens developed a way to preserve corpses by replacing body fluids and fat with plastic resin, and has launched a controversial series of global exhibits staging dead people engaging in activities from pole vaulting to having sex. He plans to sell bodies for some $97,000, torsos for $79,000 and human heads for $31,000.

He’ll also offer animals. Von Hagens insists he’ll only sell to doctors and scientists, but it’s unclear what kind of documents he’ll require to determine that. German Archbishop Robert Zollitsch slammed the move as disrespectful to the dead, notes the Independent. “This is not about new discoveries but about picking at bones and creating a spectacle under the guise of medical enlightenment,” he said. Von Hagens is often involved in controversy.

In 2004 he returned a number of bodies to China after he was accused of using prisoners’ bodies without family permission. Most recently he has staged an exhibit of bodies having sex, sparking several local attempts to ban the show.

A controversial traveling exhibit of preserved bodies has sparked a storm of controversy with a new addition of corpses having sex, reports the Guardian. “It’s not meant to be sexually stimulating,” said creator Gunther von Hagens, who opens the Berlin exhibit to the public today. German politicians and church members have demanded the couple be removed, calling the display pornographic and an insult to the dead.

“This couple is simply over the top, and it shouldn’t be shown,” said a member of parliament. Von Hagens developed a plasticizing method to preserve corpses by replacing fat and water deposits with silicon, which hardens. His displays of bodies include a pregnant woman, and corpses running, playing chess and horseback-riding. His exhibits have been enmeshed in several controversies, including accusations that he obtained bodies from prison and mental institutions without family approval.

Source: Newser.com

Photo: Gunther von Hagens and friend. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

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