Weltentasche

Weltentasche (literally "world bag") is a German neologism that may refer to a hypothetical container capable of holding the entire world or universe. In philosophical discussions and speculative fiction, the term is used as a metaphor for containment, globalization, or the act of world-building on a compact scale.

Etymology: The word is a compound of Welt (world) and Tasche (bag). As a single compound noun, Weltentasche emphasizes a bag that contains everything.

Concept and usage: The Weltentasche functions as a thought experiment about scale, boundaries, and exchange. It can illuminate questions about sovereignty within a contained system, the ethics of transport and possession, and the limits of what can be included in a portable or compact model of the world. In fiction, it may serve as a plot device in which a character carries or unpacks a universe, or as a metaphor for global interconnectedness and information packaging.

In literature and media: The term is not widely established in references outside German-language discourse. When it appears, it tends to be used by scholars or authors dealing with megastructures, pocket universes, or metafictional world-building, often to evoke a sense of whimsy or speculative depth rather than a concrete object.

See also: pocket universe; worldbuilding; globalization; container metaphor.