RANGELEY — Orgonon, The Wilhelm Reich Museum, Dodge Pond Road, will be open for Labor Day weekend from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3. The rest of September it will be open Saturdays only from 1 to 5 p.m.

Few places in the world combine the intellectual fascination and raw natural beauty of Orgonon, home of one of the 20th century’s most controversial figures, Austrian born physician-scientist Wilhelm Reich.

Now maintained as The Wilhelm Reich Museum, Orgonon is an historic site and nature preserve comprising 175 acres of fields and woodland, a system of trails, a conference center and the Orgone Energy Observatory.

The Orgone Energy Observatory is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can enjoy a fascinating biographical video about Reich. They then tour the building, view Reich’s scientific inventions and equipment, his study, library, sculptures, vivid paintings and his personal memorabilia. Children can explore a hands-on Discovery Room. And the observatory roof provides spectacular vistas of the region’s open skies, lakes and surrounding countryside.

Reich’s tomb, with its dramatic bronze portrait bust, is in a forest clearing nearby.

A bookstore/gift shop gives access to all Reich’s published work.

The observatory is open in July and August, Wednesdays through Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Starting this year, it is open Saturdays in September from 1 to 5 p.m. Special tours year-round by appointment. For information, call 864-3443, email [email protected] or visit www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org.