Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist known as "Dr Death" who created the controversial Body Worlds exhibitions, has died at the age of 81. He rose to global prominence for developing plastination, a technique that replaces bodily fluids and fatty tissue with rubber and polymers to preserve human and animal remains for display, a practice praised by supporters as making anatomy accessible to the public but condemned by critics and religious groups as voyeuristic and exploitative.

Von Hagens died on Friday, a day after being admitted to a clinic in Heidelberg with a brain haemorrhage, having lived with Parkinson's Disease for nearly two decades. Born in Nazi-occupied Poland towards the end of the Second World War, he grew up in East Germany before fleeing west in 1970 and later developed plastination, which was initially used for teaching purposes before he began touring Body Worlds internationally in the late 1990s; the exhibitions have since been seen by more than 58 million people. He also courted controversy in 2002 by conducting the first public autopsy in London in 170 years, broadcast on camera despite warnings it could be illegal, though no charges followed. In keeping with his wishes, his family says his own body will now be plastinated.