(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 17, 2015 German plastinator Gunther von Hagens attends a press preview of the "Menschen Museum" (Human Being Museum) on the eve of its opening in Berlin. Gunther von Hagens, the physician and inventor of plastination, has died. His family and the Institute for Plastination announced in Heidelberg on July 27, 2026 that he passed away on July 24, 2026 at the age of 81. Von Hagens was the creator of the 'Body Worlds' exhibitions, which display human anatomy using the plastinated bodies of the deceased. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP via Getty Images)