阿諾舒華辛力加博物館

The house where Arnold Schwarzenegger was born is to open as a museum.

The governor of California, Hollywood superstar is to visit and personally donate items for the house in Thal, Styria, organisers said today (Thurs), adding that it will open in June or July.

Former Thal Social Democratic (SPÖ) Mayor and museum project head Peter Urdl said work on the kitchen had been completed and the governor would be visiting during a trip to Austria after Easter. Urdl - a close friend of Schwarzenegger - said it had cost 50,000 Euros to prepare exhibition areas in the house.

He said the kitchen featured a cradle, stove and water basin dating from Schwarzenegger’s childhood. He added that the house’s two floors, with an area of 200 square metres, would be ready in two weeks and toilets would be installed and parking places set up.

Urdl, who was a school friend of Schwarzenegger, also said there were tentative plans for a sculpture garden, but a final decision on this had not been made.

The governor wanted to be present at the museum’s opening, Urdl added, but had a very tight schedule, and so it was not yet possible to set a specific date.

Former action movie hero Schwarzenegger, whose second and final term as governor of California ends this year – visited Thal last September during a surprise stop in Austria en route back to the USA from Baghdad, where he had visited US troops.

Superfund, an Austrian-managed futures fund provider with offices in Vienna, Dubai, Sao Paolo, Zurich, New York and Frankfurt, is reportedly backing plans for the museum.

The house was recently sold for 450,000 Euros to the Graz association Gemeinnützige Grazer Wohnungsgenossenschaft.

The house was then resold to a foundation called Arnie’s Life GmbH, with Superfund boss Christian Baha pulling the strings in the background.

Schwarzenegger, 62, regularly visits his old homeland, but his trips have become more infrequent following the death of his mother Aurelia in 1998. The former "Terminator" star’s father Gustav died in 1972.

The California governor revealed in a recent interview he has still not given up on becoming US president despite being banned from candidacy by the American constitution since he was not born in the United States.

Schwarzenegger also said he could imagine making movies again or being involved in a global environment-protection organisation after his term as governor ends in November 2010.

For more information on the museum, visit www.arnieslife.com

18 Mar 2010 www.austriantimes.at

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