“Herbert went to the stars today”: With these words, Susanne Päch told friends and acquaintances on Saturday that her husband Herbert Werner Franke had died. The globally renowned science fiction author, caver, scientist, co-founder of Ars Electronica, pioneer of computer art and mastermind of the Metaverse turned 95. He never recovered from falling down a flight of stairs and breaking his ribs.
The space. Infinite expanses. Who would have thought that some of his secrets would be revealed in Egling in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district of all places. Herbert W. Franke lived and worked there in an almost lonely idyll. The diverse fields of activity, groundbreaking achievements and numerous worlds that Franke discovered, researched or described can hardly be packed into one text. But no matter whether in science or art: It was always curiosity that drove Franke and made him a pioneer on many levels.
Franke was born on May 14, 1927 in Vienna. After the end of the war he studied physics, mathematics, chemistry, psychology and philosophy. After his doctorate, however, it was difficult to find a job in Austria, which is why he went to Germany. Scientific photography shots gave him the idea of using the instruments for display experiments.
He programmed the first images with the first computing systems: Mathematical calculations and matrices became oscillating graphs and formations. But he was never concerned with aesthetics alone, but with understanding why something is perceived as beautiful. For him, the search for explanations and formulas was also a way of introducing people to science.
The multi-interested man has explored caves and written science fiction
Franke also turned to caving and also began to write utopias and dystopias, stories about the future, today called “science fiction”. He soon became one of Europe’s best-known authors in the genre, and his works were translated into numerous languages. Many of the worlds he described in the 1950s and later live on in Hollywood blockbusters today.
But his writings are not fortune-telling: “I’m a scientist, I’m looking for justifiable knowledge and insights. Irrational interests me little,” said the PEN Germany member once. “I limit myself to what could really exist, such as artificial intelligence or forms of totalitarian systems.” He also understood his stories as a warning: “I want to prepare people for what is to come and what the consequences of our discoveries could be.”
Herbert W. Franke in front of a collection in his house in Egling in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen. The picture was taken in 2017.
(Photo: Hartmut Pöstges)
In 2007, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Culture awarded him the Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st Class. For his 95th birthday in May of this year, Upper Austria dedicated a comprehensive exhibition to him in the Francisco Carolinum in Linz, which only ended a few days ago. Thoughts about the future would not let him go, even in old age, and so the co-founder of Ars Electronica and pioneer of computer art also dealt intensively with the current crypto art scene. In June 2022, he auctioned 100 of his artworks as digital NFT certificates in order to use the proceeds to finance the establishment of a foundation.
On his Twitter account, Päch announced in English that Franke liked to call himself the “dinosaur of computer art”. Now she is “devastated to have to announce that our beloved dinosaur has left the earth”. But: He “died knowing that a community of artists and art enthusiasts deeply values his work and cares about his art and his legacy”.