Arnold Schwarzenegger Bronzed for Posterity

Former Governator returns to his Austrian hometown for opening of a museum at his childhood house

By Bruna Nessif Oct 09, 2011 12:27 AMTags
Arnold SchwarzeneggerDIETER NAGL/AFP/Getty Images

Mr. Olympia will forever be immortalized in Austria.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was in his hometown of Thal Friday for the opening of a museum dedicated to his legacy, located in his former house.

You can't miss it: It's the one with the towering bronze statue of an überbuff Schwarzenegger, clad in swim trunks and flexing as he did in his championship bodybuilding days.

So, aside from the one-of-a-kind statue (presuming Ahnuld doesn't have one or two just like it at home in L.A.), what else can fans see at the new tourist attraction?

Among the memorabilia are his first barbell, life-size Terminator models and the polished wood desk he governed the state of California from in his Sacramento office.

"For me, this is not only a museum," Schwarzenegger told reporters. "It is also a symbol of will...everyone has a chance."

"My personal success has less to do with millions of dollars or with the headlines in the media that are not always positive and also not with being clapped on the shoulder by Barack Obama and other world names. Personal success is the result of determination, hard work and stubbornness."

Schwarzenegger has also taken to Twitter to keep fans abreast of his travels (Schnitzel for dinner! "What else?" he wrote) and tweeted a photo of one of his old teachers with the caption, "She said she lived this long to make sure we made something of ourselves." He was off to Madrid on Saturday.