Arnold Terminates Hometown Ties

Tue., Dec. 27, 2005 9:45 AM PST by Sarah Hall

Arnold Schwarzenegger has terminated his relationship with his hometown of Graz, Austria.

The California governor's name was removed from the city's soccer stadium and references to him were deleted from Graz's official Websites after Schwarzenegger demanded that the use of his name for promotional purposes be halted.

The Terminator star penned a letter to Graz officials earlier this month requesting the changes in response to fierce criticism from opponents in the city who denounced him for refusing to block the Dec. 13 execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams.

Williams' execution set off an avalanche of heated protests in Europe and particularly in Graz, a city whose official slogan is "City of Human Rights." Citizens had already been calling for the removal of Schwarzenegger's name before he took action.

In his letter, written in German, Schwarzenegger defended his decision not to grant Williams clemency.

"I denied the bid for mercy from a legally convicted quadruple murderer after very scrupulous examination, and he was executed according to the law of our country," Schwarzenegger wrote. "In order to spare the responsible politicians in the city of Graz any further disconcertment, I withdraw the right, effective immediately, to use my name in connection with Liebenauer Stadium. You will receive a letter from my lawyers regarding this matter shortly."

Officials took down the stadium's sign late Sunday or early Monday and scrubbed the city's official Websites of Schwarzenegger references on Tuesday.

"It's all settled," Thomas Rajakovics, a spokesman for Graz Mayor Siegfried Nagl, told Austrian media.

Minus the heavy metal letters that had spelled out Schwarzenegger's name since 1997, the sign for the main entrance to the stadium reads, simply, "Stadium Graz-Liebenau," a reference to a district of the city.

In addition to stripping the stadium of his name, Schwarzenegger returned an ornate ring of honor that Graz officials gifted him with in 1999.

"[Since] Graz obviously doesn't accept me as one of its own anymore, this ring has become worthless for me. It is already in the mail," Schwarzenegger wrote.

Nagl wrote Schwarzenegger last week, urging the governor not to cut ties with his hometown and to keep the ring. He said he assured Schwarzenegger that many of the town's residents still admired him, despite his pro-death penalty stance.

Nonetheless, Schwarzenegger wasn't swayed from severing his connection to the city where he began his bodybuilding career.

Rajakovics said that officials had stored the ring in the city safe in the event Schwarzenegger asked for it back, and that reports that it was to be auctioned off or put on display were premature.

The actor turned politician was born just outside of Graz, in the village of Thal in 1947. Though he emigrated to the United States in 1968 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1984, he has retained his Austrian citizenship.