Herbert W. Franke

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Herbert W. Franke at transmediale 2010

Herbert Werner Franke (born May 14, 1927 in Vienna ) is an Austrian scientist, non -fiction author and science fiction writer . He is considered one of the most important living German-speaking science fiction authors. He published some of his works under the pseudonyms Sergius Both and Peter Parsival . Franke is also active in the fields of futurology , cave research as well as computer graphics and computer art .

Life

Herbert W. Franke is the son of Otto Franke, professor of electrical engineering at the Technical University of Vienna and his wife, nee Mayr, a foreign language secretary by profession . At the age of 15 he was drafted into military service in 1942. In 1943 Franke was first deployed as an anti-aircraft helper , later in a switchboard, followed by the Reich Labor Service . On December 24, 1944, he was finally drafted into the Wehrmacht , for which Franke had to report to a barracks in Berlin-Gatow . After the war Franke studied physics , mathematics , chemistry , psychology and philosophy in Vienna . In 1950 he received his doctorate in theoretical physics with a dissertation on a topic of electron optics . Franke then worked for the press department of Siemens in Erlangen until 1956 .

He has been working as a freelance writer since 1957. From 1973 to 1997 he held a lectureship for “Cybernetic Aesthetics” (later “Computer Graphics - Computer Art”) at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . From 1968 to 1975 he was a member of the group parallel , an association of artists and scientists. From 1972 to 1979 he was together with Wolfgang Jeschke science fiction lecturer and editor at Wilhelm Heyne Verlag , Munich. In 1979 he co-founded Ars Electronica in Linz. From 1979 to 1980 Franke took on a teaching position “Introduction to Perceptual Psychology” at the Design Department (since 1998: Design) at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences . Also in 1980 he was elected a member of the PEN Center Germany and received his professor title from the Austrian Ministry for Education and Art. A collection of stories called The Green Comet was his first book. In 1998 Franke took part in the Siggraph Art Show in Orlando and as a juror at the VideoMath Festival in Berlin . He has also been involved in countless performances and presentations over the years. In the Kunsthalle Bremen , the two collections of computer art that Franke acquired over the years have found their museum workspace as permanent loans. This was recognized accordingly in the exhibition Ex Machina in 2007.

In 2003, his most recently published textbook, Advance into the Underworld - Adventure Cave Research . Since 2005, Franke has been writing more and more science fiction novels. In 2007 Franke, at the age of 80, published the multimedia play Der Kristallplanet especially for a performance with marionettes . In July of that year it was premiered at the Bad Tölz Marionette Theater . The play is about controlled, unfree people who - like puppets - are controlled by a central state.

Die Zeit describes Franke as "the most prominent German-speaking SF author", the FAZ calls him a "great narrator". In 2016 the European Science Fiction Society awarded him the Grand Master Award for his literary life's work . Some of Franke's works in the field of computer graphics are exhibited in the collection of the Abteiberg Museum in Mönchengladbach .

Franke is married to Susanne Päch for the second time ; his first wife was the translator Charlotte Winheller (1935–1995).

Awards

Motivation and message

“What fascinates me about science fiction is the so-called sense of wonder - the unexpected, the amazing, the wonderful that is described in these stories. There is no need to dodge into unreal areas: The spaces of action and experience, which are opened up with modern technology based on natural science, are far more fantastic than all witches, monsters and wizards from the world of fairy tales and legends. This untapped new territory of real utopia lies in the future, and the way there may be connected with many setbacks, errors and dangers. The resulting conflicts provide me with the material for the dramatic actions that I portray in stories and novels. It is about the future of our real world and often also about developments that have already started today and that we can therefore still influence in our sense. "

- Herbert W. Franke

Franke has a clear and very sober style. The recurring motif of his novels and stories is the question of the nature of reality, to which there is no definitive answer. He uses this motif, for example, in the novel The Thought Network , in which the main character interned by state power experiences virtual realities without being able to distinguish between reality and manipulation. But the secondary characters are ultimately drawn into the vortex of these shifts in reality. The end of the novel finally shows the reader vividly that nothing has to be as it seems, and that the starting position of the novel, which was believed to be safe, is also just a variation of the perception of reality. In later works the concepts of virtuality become more daring: In Transpluto , the space-time continuum, which appears to us to be inevitable, turns out to be a kind of locally limited experimentation cage that is surrounded by a completely strange, multi-dimensional structure.

Another determining theme in Franke's work is the hopeless situation of individuals in increasingly technical, well-organized and totalitarian worlds of the future, with Franke composing his visions from the trends and technologies of our time.

As an overarching philosophical question, which Franke touches on at least marginally in almost every work, the further development of civilizations in view of the ever-improving technical possibilities for satisfying needs can be viewed. The early work The Orchid Cage plays this thought through to a final and depressing conclusion. Frankes probably most successful book Zone Null brings the subject less radically, with the likewise frequently recurring topoi of a hypothetical and drastic divergence of the power blocs of the East-West conflict ( Die Stahlwüsten , Papa Joe & Co. ) and one with the increase in possibilities more and more aimless nascent scientific and technical apparatus ( death of an immortal ). A division of society into a part living in purposeful, passive bliss and an active part is the result in Zone Zero as well as in The Orchid Cage and various earlier stories. The active role can ultimately be transferred to bionically modified people or completely to machine intelligences.

Works

Herbert W. Franke's publications have been translated into Bulgaria , Denmark , France , Great Britain , the Netherlands , Italy , Japan , Yugoslavia , Mexico , Poland , Romania , Sweden , Spain , the USSR , Hungary and the USA . The novel Ypsilon Minus and some utopian stories were also published in the GDR .

(Some of the ISBNs refer to newer editions.)

Non-fiction

  • Art phenomenon. Heinz Moos Verlag, Munich 1967; extended edition DuMont 1974, ISBN 3-7701-0725-X ; as cybernetic aesthetics - the phenomenon of art expanded in Ernst Reinhardt Verlag, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-497-00889-3 .
  • Computer graphics - computer art. Bruckmann, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-7654-1412-3 ; extended edition by Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, New York 1985.
  • with G. Jäger: Apparative Art. From the kaleidoscope to the computer. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-7701-0660-1 .
  • with HG Frank : Aesthetic Information. I. f. Cybernetik-Verlag, Berlin, Paderborn 1997.
  • Animation with Mathematica. Springer, 2002, ISBN 3-540-42372-9 .
  • Underground wilderness. Brockhaus, Wiesbaden 1956.
  • Art and construction. Bruckmann 1957.
  • Magic of molecules. Brockhaus 1958.
  • Where no eye can see. Brockhaus 1959.
  • ... nothing remains for us but amazement. Wilhelm Goldmann, Munich 1959.
  • Advance into the incomprehensible. Brockhaus 1960.
  • Technology as a phenomenon. Brockhaus 1962.
  • The language of the past. Union Verlag, Stuttgart 1962.
  • New territory of knowledge. Union 1964.
  • The manipulated person. Brockhaus 1964.
  • with A. Bögli: Shining Darkness: The wonder world of the caves. Kümmerli and Frey, Bern 1965.
  • Man is descended from apes. Kindler Verlag, Munich 1966.
  • Plastics are conquering the world. Spectrum Verlag, Stuttgart 1966.
  • Symbol of chemistry. Basilius Presse, Basel 1967, and Moos 1968.
  • Methods of geochronology. Springer 1969.
  • with EH Graul: The unresolved future. Kindler 1970.
  • Mysterious cave world. dva, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-421-02415-4 ; expanded paperback edition dva 1981, ISBN 3-548-32042-2 .
  • Art versus technology. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt 1978, ISBN 3-596-21991-4 ; Revised as Leonardo 2000. Suhrkamp Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-518-37851-1 .
  • In the caves of this earth. Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1978, ISBN 3-455-08906-2 .
  • The atoms. Ullstein, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-550-07914-1 .
  • The molecules. Ullstein 1980, ISBN 3-550-07915-X .
  • The secret message. Umschau, Frankfurt / Main 1982, ISBN 3-524-69034-3 .
  • Computer graphics gallery. Pictures according to the program - art in the electronic age. DuMont 1984, ISBN 3-7701-1570-8 .
  • with MP Kage: silicon world. IBM Germany GmbH, Stuttgart 1985.
  • with H. Helbig: The world of mathematics. Computer graphics between science and art, VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-18-400792-8 .
  • Digital visions. IBM Germany GmbH, 1989.
  • The P principle. Laws of nature in computing space. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1995, ISBN 3-458-16656-4 .
  • Paths to Computer Art. Edition 'down the Danube', Vienna, St. Peter am Wimberg 1995, ISBN 3-901233-09-1 .
  • Advance into the underworld. Bruckmann, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7654-4043-4 .

Short story collections

Novels

Radio plays

  • Papa Joe & Co ( artificial headphone play Bayerischer Rundfunk 1976)
  • Zarathustra returns ( Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1969)
  • The order (Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1984)
  • Expedition into no man's land (Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1975)
  • Remote controlled ( Hessischer Rundfunk 1986)
  • Stranded in a vacuum (Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1967)
  • No trace of life ... (Bayerischer Rundfunk 1981)
  • The Magma Well (Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1967)
  • Mutiny on Venus (Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1967)
  • Forgotten words in the year 2100 (2): rocket ( Deutschlandradio 1999)
  • Signals from the dark field (Süddeutscher Rundfunk / Bayerischer Rundfunk 1978)
  • Sunday trip ( Westdeutscher Rundfunk 1976)

Play

Work edition

  1. The green comet , with additional texts by Herbert W. Franke, Ulrich Blode and Hans Esselborn , p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2015. - ISBN 978-3-95765-019-1
  2. The glass trap , with comments by Ulrich Blode, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2015. - ISBN 978-3-95765-055-9
  3. The orchid cage , with comments by Ulrich Blode, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2015. - ISBN 978-3-95765-053-5
  4. The thought network , with comments by Ulrich Blode and Hans Esselborn, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2015. - ISBN 978-3-95765-051-1
  5. Planet of the Lost , with comments by Ulrich Blode, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2016. - ISBN 978-3-95765-069-6
  6. The steel desert , with comments by Ulrich Blode, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2016. - ISBN 978-3-95765-062-7
  7. The green comet , with additional texts by Herbert W. Franke, Ulrich Blode and Hans Esselborn, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2016. - ISBN 978-3-95765-020-7
  8. Zone zero , with additional texts by Herbert W. Franke, Thomas Franke , Jan-Erik Bolz and Ulrich Blode, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2017. - ISBN 978-3-95765-091-7
  9. The ivory tower , with comments by Ulrich Blode, p.machinery, Murnau am Staffelsee 2017. - ISBN 978-3-95765-089-4

literature

  • Helga Abret: Demonstrate the need for change in writing. On Herbert W. Franke's utopian-technical stories and novels. In: Franz Rottensteiner (ed.): Polaris 5. A science fiction almanac, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1982, pp. 17-37.
  • Hans Joachim Alpers , Werner Fuchs , Ronald M. Hahn : Reclam's science fiction guide. Reclam, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-15-010312-6 , pp. 159-161.
  • Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs, Ronald M. Hahn, Wolfgang Jeschke : Lexicon of Science Fiction Literature. Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-02453-2 , pp. 453-455.
  • Ulrich Blode , Hans Esselborn , Susanne Päch (eds.): Herbert W. Franke. The crystal planet. 2 volumes, p.machinery, Murnau 2017, ISBN 978-3-95765-092-4 .
  • Jürgen Claus : Between technology and ethos. Conversation with Herbert W. Franke. In: Jürgen Claus: Planet Sea. Art & Environmental Research Underwater. Verlag M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1972, pp. 115-127.
  • John Clute : Franke, Herbert W. In: John Clute, Peter Nicholls : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 3rd edition (online edition), version dated April 4, 2017.
  • Hans Esselborn: Franke, Herbert W. In: Lexicon of Science Fiction Literature since 1900. With a look at Eastern Europe , edited by Christoph F. Lorenz, Peter Lang, Frankfurt / Main 2016, ISBN 978-3-63167-236-5 , Pp. 267-272.
  • Hans Esselborn: Virtuality with Herbert W. Franke. In: Walter Delabar, Frauke Schlieckau (Ed.): Bluescreen. Visions, dreams, nightmares and reflections of the fantastic and utopian. Aisthesis Verlag, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-89528-769-5 , pp. 181-188.
  • Judith Leiß: Staging of Controversy. The heterotopia as a postmodernist subgenre of utopia. Aisthesis Verlag, Bielefeld 2010 (dissertation on Alban Nikolai Herbst, Thomas Lehr, Herbert W. Franke and Botho Strauss). ISBN 978-3-89528-768-8 .
  • Michael Nagula , Horst Pukallus : Job's star. In: The Science Fiction Year 1990, published by Wolfgang Jeschke , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-453-03905-X , pp. 590-598.
  • Susanne Päch : Herbert W. Franke. Life and work. In: The Last Things. The other world in literature, art, media and religion. Passau 2008, ISBN 978-3-939914-08-2 , pp. 61-68.
  • Franz Rottensteiner : Herbert W. Franke. Literature as a thought experiment. In: Franz Rottensteiner: In the laboratory of visions. Notes on the fantastic literature. 19 articles and lectures from the years 2000–2012. Verlag Dieter van Reeken, Lüneburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-940679-72-7 , pp. 212-220.
  • Franz Rottensteiner (Ed.): Polaris 6. A science fiction almanac, dedicated to Herbert W. Franke. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt / Main, 1982.
  • Michael Weisser : Interview with Prof. Dr. Herbert W. Franke. In: (ders.): WhitePaperCollection-02. BookRix, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-7396-8464-2 (e-book).
  • Kay Ziegenbalg: A machine that invents the future. Herbert W. Franke's SF short stories. In: Walter Delabar, Frauke Schlieckau (Ed.): Bluescreen. Visions, dreams, nightmares and reflections of the fantastic and utopian. Aisthesis Verlag, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-89528-769-5 , pp. 287-289.

Web links

Commons : Herbert W. Franke  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herbert W. Franke: I: HWF. In: Blode, Esselborn, Päch (ed.): Herbert W. Franke. The crystal planet. Part 1, p. 25.
  2. ^ Herbert W. Franke: I: HWF. In: Blode, Esselborn, Päch (ed.): Herbert W. Franke. The crystal planet. Part 1, p. 26.
  3. ^ Herbert W. Franke: I: HWF. In: Blode, Esselborn, Päch (ed.): Herbert W. Franke. The crystal planet. Part 1, p. 33.
  4. ^ Herbert W. Franke: I: HWF. In: Blode, Esselborn, Päch (ed.): Herbert W. Franke. The crystal planet. Part 1, p. 61.
  5. ↑ Matchbook with the goals of the group in parallel
  6. ^ Frankes autobiography
  7. ↑ The Crystal Planet (resumption)
  8. ↑ The crystal planet. A game from the future. ( Memento of the original from July 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marionetten-toelz.de
  9. ↑ Fantastic News on "The Crystal Planet"
  10. ↑ The voice of the unknown
  11. ^ ESFS Awards 2016. In: European Science Fiction Society. November 6, 2016, accessed March 28, 2017 .
  12. ^ The beginnings of computer graphics from the Etzold collection in the Abteiberg Museum
  13. ↑ https://www.merkur.de/lokales/bad-toelz/bad-toelz-ort28297/herbert-w-franke-im-toelzer-marionettentheater-geehre-grossmeister-science-fiction-literatur-7880029.html
  14. ↑ Video on youtube
  15. ↑ Award of an honorary doctorate to Herbert W. Franke
personal data
SURNAME Franke, Herbert W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Franke, Herbert Werner (full name); Sergius Both (pseudonym); Peter Parsival (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian science fiction author
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna