Wilhelm Waldeyer as an object - Anatomists as body donors

Abstract

Introduction: Berlin anatomist Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz (1836-1921) donated his skull, brain, and hands to his institute. Only the skull survives in the present-day collection. This study investigates the skull itself as much as the historical context of Waldeyer's donation.

Methods: Physical-anthropological investigation of the remains and historical research.

Results: Waldeyer's main motivation was the donation of his brain to science. While this was the first ever recorded body donation in Berlin, it was not unusual for scientists of his time to donate their brains and/or to investigate brains of fellow scientists to correlate brain morphology to individual traits. Nevertheless, Waldeyer's pupil Hans Virchow expressed reservations dissecting his former boss, reservations that were unknown to him when dissecting others. Waldeyer's brain was never investigated and not preserved, likely due to damage by stroke and poor anatomical fixation. Waldeyer's skull shows the common features of a male European of senile age with some notable anatomical variation including a "trigeminus bridge".

Discussion: Waldeyer's donation is embedded in a tradition of research looking, if in vain, for traceable signs of intelligence or geniality in brains of well-known individuals. Reservations of anatomists to dissect other anatomists and to donate their own bodies persist until today.

Keywords: Body donation; Brain; Hand; History; Mutual dissection; Skull.