50 Years of 'Star Trek' cult

The cult franchise started in 1966 as a series called "Star Trek: The Original Series." It was stopped after 79 episodes only, due to a general lack of interest. That drastically changed after the 1969 moon landing. Throughout the following decades, five more series, 13 feature films, video games, books and comics were created.

In 1968, an interracial kiss between Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols, top right) stirred conservatives viewers in the US at the time. "Star Trek" depicted a futuristic utopian vision of a world without racism. Nichols was the first African American to have a lead role in US film history.

Mr. Spock, half-human and half-Vulcan, is the scientific officer of the starship Enterprise. He was long portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, who died in 2015. The unusual hairstyle of the character inspired many teenagers.

Linguistic professor Marc Okrand invented the imaginary language of the Klingons, who live on planet Kronos, in 1984. Vocabulary as well as grammar are assembled in the Klingon dictionary, which motivated many fans to actually learn the language. Some fans have even created pop music in Klingon.

Trekkies are the ultimate "Star Trek" fans. Jürgen Kaiser (35), a hardcore Trekkie, couldn't accept the fact that the last TV show had stopped in 2005. He decided to start filming his own movie. Seven years later, he finally finished his one-hour fan-film, "The beginning of the end." The movie was created using stop-motion techniques and self-built sets.

Roger Nygard captured the fans' phenomenal excitement in his 1997 documentary film "Trekkies." Fans passionately discuss "Star Trek" and why they see it as more than "just entertainment." They dress up like characters of the series, speak Klingon and meet up at "Star Trek" conventions.

The "Star Trek" fan base is huge and has been steadily growing since 1966. In Germany, Trekkies organize huge meetings, such as the Federation Convention (shortened to FedCon). This year, 5000 Trekkies from all over Germany celebrated their 25th annual FedCon, where they could attend lectures on "Star Trek," wear costumes, see fan movies and meet guest stars such as George Takei (picture).

Cosplay is a phenomenon that originated in Japan: People play the roles of fictional characters for fun. Trekkies also like to cosplay. They reproduce the features of their favorite characters through costumes, make-up and equipment. Klingon masks and the Enterprise's colored uniforms are especially popular among fans.

Of course, there are many parodies of the "Star Trek" series, too. The most popular German parody shows Michael Bully Herbig as Mr. Spuck with his crew in a space taxi. Also on board: Captain Jürgen Thorsten Kork, "Schrotty" and "Pulle." The film also includes references to "Star Wars."

"Star Trek" inventor Gene Roddenberry was one of the first people to have his cremated remains launched into space. The US company Celestis offers space burial services. Tiny urns containing seven grams of ashes are shot into the orbit of the Earth, at a distance of some 550 to 800 kilometers (340 to 500 miles).