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Log inMuseum a piece of history coupled with great location
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Museum a piece of history coupled with great location
by Outspoken on Sun May 25, 2008 8:47 am
Museum a piece of history coupled with great location
Wilhelm Reich spent his career studying how energy functions in nature and affects people.
By BJ BANGS
For the Maine Sunday Telegram
People come to the Wilhelm Reich Museum, located 3.5 miles north of Rangeley Village, for many reasons.
Some come to learn about the history and research conducted by Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian-born physician, psychoanalyst and scientist whose career spanned four decades in the mid-20th century.
Others come to check out the hiking trails overlooking some of the best scenery in Maine's Western Mountains. Still others take advantage of the summer educational programs or the Children's Discovery Room. And some come from all over the world to visit and study Reich's work.
About 3,000 visit the museum each year, says Mary Higgins, director of the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust, which owns the copyright to Reich's works. The museum property, Orgonon, is home to the impressive three-story stone structure, the Orgone Energy Observatory, that sits atop a knoll overlooking Dodge Pond with spectacular views of the Rangeley Lakes area. The observatory is situated on 175 acres of fields and woodland, which takes in the cabins, a conference center and an outdoor learning center.
Reich was one of the more controversial figures of the 20th century. He grew up well-to-do in Austria and studied psychoanalysis under Sigmund Freud. He was a noted political activist against the Nazis in Germany during the 1930s. Being in Europe during pre-World War II, he was forced to change residence six times in 10 years and re-establish himself professionally in five countries.
Despite this, he was relentless in pursing his research, which focused on investigating the energy functions in nature: human beings, microscopic organisms and the atmosphere and the cosmos. In the course of this work, he identified a previously unknown physical energy he called "orgone," studying its laws and inventing equipment for its practical use. This included the orgone energy accumulator to concentrate energy.
In l947, the accumulator became the focus of an investigation by the Federal Food and Drug Administration, which claimed orgone energy did not exist. This attack culminated in an injunction against Reich obtained by default in l954, and the burning of his published books.
In a subsequent action, Reich was accused of contempt of court for disobeying the injunction. He was tried and imprisoned, where he died in l957. His will stipulated the creation of the Wilhelm Reich Museum and the trust to oversee it.
While much of Reich's work was destroyed by federal agents, several thousand volumes of writings, his dynamic paintings, and a few small personal items accompany his scientific equipment and inventions at the museum, which opened in 1960.
The museum is open 1-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays in July and August, and from 1-5 p.m. Sundays in September. Admission is $6 for adults and free for children under age 12.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=189412&ac=PHnws
FOR MORE INFORMATION, go to www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org.
BJ Bangs photos
Wilhelm Reich spent his career studying how energy functions in nature and affects people.
By BJ BANGS
For the Maine Sunday Telegram
People come to the Wilhelm Reich Museum, located 3.5 miles north of Rangeley Village, for many reasons.
Some come to learn about the history and research conducted by Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian-born physician, psychoanalyst and scientist whose career spanned four decades in the mid-20th century.
Others come to check out the hiking trails overlooking some of the best scenery in Maine's Western Mountains. Still others take advantage of the summer educational programs or the Children's Discovery Room. And some come from all over the world to visit and study Reich's work.
About 3,000 visit the museum each year, says Mary Higgins, director of the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust, which owns the copyright to Reich's works. The museum property, Orgonon, is home to the impressive three-story stone structure, the Orgone Energy Observatory, that sits atop a knoll overlooking Dodge Pond with spectacular views of the Rangeley Lakes area. The observatory is situated on 175 acres of fields and woodland, which takes in the cabins, a conference center and an outdoor learning center.
Reich was one of the more controversial figures of the 20th century. He grew up well-to-do in Austria and studied psychoanalysis under Sigmund Freud. He was a noted political activist against the Nazis in Germany during the 1930s. Being in Europe during pre-World War II, he was forced to change residence six times in 10 years and re-establish himself professionally in five countries.
Despite this, he was relentless in pursing his research, which focused on investigating the energy functions in nature: human beings, microscopic organisms and the atmosphere and the cosmos. In the course of this work, he identified a previously unknown physical energy he called "orgone," studying its laws and inventing equipment for its practical use. This included the orgone energy accumulator to concentrate energy.
In l947, the accumulator became the focus of an investigation by the Federal Food and Drug Administration, which claimed orgone energy did not exist. This attack culminated in an injunction against Reich obtained by default in l954, and the burning of his published books.
In a subsequent action, Reich was accused of contempt of court for disobeying the injunction. He was tried and imprisoned, where he died in l957. His will stipulated the creation of the Wilhelm Reich Museum and the trust to oversee it.
While much of Reich's work was destroyed by federal agents, several thousand volumes of writings, his dynamic paintings, and a few small personal items accompany his scientific equipment and inventions at the museum, which opened in 1960.
The museum is open 1-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays in July and August, and from 1-5 p.m. Sundays in September. Admission is $6 for adults and free for children under age 12.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=189412&ac=PHnws
FOR MORE INFORMATION, go to www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org.
BJ Bangs photos
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
