CANCELED / Visionary Worlds: Art Under the Dome

We regret to inform you that the event Visionary Worlds: Art Under the Dome has been cancelled. Thank you for your understanding.

A weekend full of science fiction, computer art, and immersive experiences: On September 20 and 21, 2025, the art meets science Foundation Herbert W. Franke and the Planetarium PLANET KA will celebrate the universal scholar and visionary Herbert W. Franke (1927–2022) with a two-day multimedia festival program – in cooperation with the ZKM | Center for Art and Media, home to the Herbert W. Franke Archive since 2017. The festival offers a wide range of insights into the award-winning work of the physicist, artist, and science fiction author.

🎟️ Tickets are available at PLANET KA (Alter Schlachthof 4, 76131 Karlsruhe): Tickets

Herbert W. Franke is regarded as one of the pioneers of German-language science fiction. With his debut novel The Green Comet (1960), he achieved his breakthrough, and his novels and short stories were soon translated into numerous languages – including those of the former Eastern Bloc. Franke combined political dystopias with the future questions of digitalization and was among the first to explore the computer both as a tool of social control and as a creator of virtual worlds, long before terms such as “cyberspace” were coined. His texts reflect the ambivalence of technological developments – oscillating between surveillance, manipulation, and liberating possibilities. With a critical eye on dictatorship, consumer society, and media culture, Franke devised scenarios that both warn and open horizons. His works united seriousness with playful humor, making him a farsighted chronicler of possible futures.