Museum for Arnie in Austria!

The world's first museum dedicated to former Governator and Mister Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger opened its doors on Saturday in his birthplace of Thal in southern Austria.

The "Styrian Oak" himself was absent for the event, timed to coincide with Arnie's 64th birthday, but will attend a grander opening at a later date, according to organisers.

Visitors, mostly locals, gathered for a first look at the two-storey light yellow house in Thal in southern Styria, restored to look as it did when Schwarzenegger first came into the world on July 30, 1947.

Among the 1,000 objects and photos on display are his very first weights, with which the future champion bodybuilder started training, as well as the desk behind which he sat as California governor.

Monitors also recall Schwarzenegger's Hollywood career, with trailers from his various films, while a life-size model of his Terminator stands in a corner.

When the man himself will visit his first home for the grand opening was still unclear but he was expected to bring with him a three-metre (10-foot) high bronze statue he commissioned from a US artist to adorn the outside of the museum.

The former bodybuilder, actor and politician has sought to revive his film career since leaving the California governor's office earlier this year, but has mostly made headlines lately over his divorce from Maria Shriver after admitting in May that he had fathered a child with the couple's former housekeeper.

First Published: Jul 30, 2011 19:04 IST