As the ongoing restoration of the Wilhelm Reich Museum building—funded by a generous grant from the Efroymson Family Fund of Indiana—grabs the attention of onlookers from the outside, exciting changes inside the museum have been manifest since its opening for the 2023 season on July 1.

For the first time in its 63-year history, visitors to the Wilhelm Reich may enter at any time during operating hours and freely explore the exhibits at their own pace. In the past, visitors were first shown a documentary film and were then required to participate in a guided tour. Now, using Podcaster technology from GUIDE-ID.COM of The Netherlands, each museum visitor is given an audio player they can use to listen to over 20 pre-recorded audio and video segments distributed throughout the museum exhibits, allowing for immersive, self-guided contact with the material presented.

New exhibits have been added. For example, visitors can see the vintage 1940s Webster Chicago wire recorder that Wilhelm Reich used and listen to a recording of his voice addressing a conference in 1950. They can watch short excerpts of film dramatizations of Wilhelm Reich’s story or sit inside one of two orgone energy accumulators on display.

Of course, the building itself, a marvelous Bauhaus structure constructed in 1948 of local fieldstone, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1999, still engages and fascinates visitors as its external facade undergoes restoration and inside, the beautiful interior spaces, furnishings and other contents remain as a time capsule, just as they were 70 years ago.

Museum hours are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm through August, Saturdays only in September.

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