Nuremberg 2028: A Worldcon for the Next Era
Central Europe hasn’t hosted a Worldcon since 1970. It’s time to begin a new era!
We believe we can make 2028 an unforgettable experience: a Worldcon rooted in Central Europe, open to the World. Our vision is to bring fans into the heart of the German SF scene while genuinely embracing Central Europe as a whole. We aim to highlight the rich and often underrepresented traditions of Czech and Polish fandom and to welcome fans from across the region into a truly international celebration.
Dystopia to Utopia?
Few cities in the world offer such a powerful environment for science fiction to engage with history and possibility. Nuremberg is a place where the legacies and inheritances of dystopia and utopia are never far away. It is shaped by them.
Its beautifully preserved medieval old town is crowned by a fortress, standing constant against the waves of time. Its museums and institutions memorialize the legacy of World War II, where the darkest era in German history is held to account by exemplary efforts of historical reckoning. Nuremberg is also a global symbol of accountability and human rights through the Nuremberg Trials, as well as a thriving modern metropolis committed to transparency, remembrance, and learning,
These contradictions, darkness and hope, past and future, make it an ideal site for discussion about the futures we imagine and the futures we want.
The Scale of Our Imagination:
Our proposed site, the NürnbergMesse Conference Centre, is a modern, flexible complex capable of hosting a Worldcon with 4,000–10,000 members. It provides connected halls, configurable conference rooms, and the ability to create a fan village atmosphere complete with beer gardens and outdoor social space.
Nuremberg is an exceptionally accessible location, with affordable travel connections and a range of accommodations, ranging from a hostel at the Imperial Castle, a planned cluster of hotels close to the venue, and even a campground directly on site. These options are part of the bid’s core infrastructure planning. We are aiming to make a Nuremberg Worldcon as affordable and accessible as possible.
One of the unique strengths of Nuremberg is how easily the Worldcon can spread beyond the walls of the convention centre and into the fabric of the city.
For those wishing an extended visit in advance of the convention, we plan a week‑long cultural program across Nuremberg, Erlangen, and Fürth, including collaborations with:
- The Zukunftsmuseum (Future Museum), a major site of speculative and technological exploration
- Planetariums, theatres, museums, and partner venues across the metropolitan region
- Erlangen, famous for its international Comic Salon
- Fürth, home to a vibrant creative community
From the Past to the Future:
We aim to engage with the technological, ethical, artistic, and societal challenges facing fandom today, including the impact of AI on writers, artists, and fan communities. This is especially fitting in a city whose Future Museum centres public engagement with emerging technologies.
The Nuremberg 2028 team emphasises transparency and community involvement and the leadership team is both local and international, experienced, imaginative, and deeply rooted in fandom, event culture, and speculative thought.
We want to build not just a convention but open a new era, a Worldcon that embraces history, confronts the future, and invites fans to step into the full breadth of what science fiction can be. As part of this we are committed to close relations with the upcoming bids from Nantes (France), Prague (Czechia) and Poland and we aim to build capabilities that will support their success as well as our own.
Foto: CTZ – Congress-Tourismus Zentrale Nürnberg