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Thal () is a village in the
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n state of
Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...
, about west from the edge of
Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
, Austria's second largest city. Its population in the 2014 census was 2,240. Thal is most notably the birthplace of bodybuilder, actor and politician
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
, who lived there until 1966 at the age of 19. In July 2011, Schwarzenegger opened his childhood house as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum.


Toponymy

The
etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
of the town, which simply means "
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
" (now spelled ''Tal'' in
Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the umbrella term for the standard language, standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for commun ...
;
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
to English seen in many placenames) before the
German Orthographic Conference of 1901 The German Orthographic Conference of 1901 (the Berlin II Orthographic Conference; or ) was a conference of orthography that took place in Berlin 17–19 June 1901. The results of the conference became official in the German Empire in 1902.Edite ...
reforms, is ultimately from a
cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...
of the Graben von Stein, named ''Von Thal'' (''De Valle'' in
Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...
).


History

Until the 800s AD, the area was unsettled. The first forest village settlement was established in the 10th century. In the following two centuries, scattered
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
s grew up in the area. On 1 January 1850, the settlement became known as "St. Jacob Thal". On 1 January 1895, the village became a settlement with market town ("Marktgemeinde") status.


Geography

The village is located about west of the Styrian capital of
Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
. Thal is a scattered settlement of houses, consisting of about 19 grouped hamlets: Eben, Eck, Hardt, Haslau, Kirchberg, Kötschberg, Linak, Oberbichl, Oberthal, Plabutsch, Schlüsselhof, Steinberg, Unterbichl, Unterthal, Waldsdorf, Waldsdorfberg, Wendlleiten, Windhof, and Winkel. The village contains a small lake called Thalersee.


Notable landmarks


Parish church of St. Jacob

In 1735, a wooden chapel was built in Baroque style. In 1772, the parish church of St. Jacob was built and originally dedicated to St. Sebastian. It was extended in 1992, with the foundation stone laid on 23 May 1992 and the church was consecrated on 15 May 1994 by Johann Weber. The extension to the existing church was by the architect Manfred Fuchs Bichler, and the Austrian painter, graphic artist and architect Ernst Fuchs. The artistic design of the entire complex with bright colors and shapes and impressive lighting effects received critical acclaim.


Oberthal House

By the 12th century, the lords of Waldsdorf had established their seat on the site of the present stately home in the shape of a fortified manor house with a large dairy farm. From 1315 to 1605, it was owned by the noble family of
Windisch-Graetz The House of Windisch-Graetz, also spelled Windischgrätz, is an ancient Austrian aristocratic family, descending from Windischgrätz in Lower Styria (present-day Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia). The noble dynasty serving the House of Habsburg achieve ...
. In 1563, major conversion and renovation work was carried out on the castle under the then-owner and designer, Erasmus of Windisch-Graetz, which saw it expanded into a
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
style stately home with a courtyard surrounded on three sides by three-storey high, columnar
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...
s. There is still an underground passage, dating to that period, that runs as far as Graz, but it is impassable after the first several hundred metres. From 1605 to 1622, the house was owned by Bernard Walter of Walthersweil and, from 1622 to 1624, by the Schranz of Schranzenegg family, who sold it to Siegmund Friedrich, Count Trautmannsdorff. During the rule of Sigmund Frederick the Younger of Trautmannsdorff, Oberthal House was converted and expanded between 1656 and 1661 into one of the most splendid in the area around the state capital. Above the house, a large pleasure garden (''Lustgarten'') was established, based on French prototypes, surrounded by a wall and decorated with grottos and a small
maison de plaisance In Renaissance architecture, Renaissance and Early Modern German architecture, a ''Lustschloss'' (, both meaning "pleasure palace") is a country house, château, or palace which served the private pleasure of its owner, and was seasonally inh ...
. In 1798, Thal House and its estate was sold to Leopold Edler of Warnhauser and remained in the possession of his family until 1841. From 1841 onwards, the palace was owned by the ''
Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...
en'' of Walterskirchen. In 1846, the house was remodelled into the Romanesque style of a
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
castle. In 1905, Oberthal was sold to a
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
n consortium, who had to give up the property after a short time for financial reasons. The house subsequently changed hands several times in the ensuing period and steadily fell into a state of dilapidation until it ended up in the hands of Dr. Friedrich Schuster, who had the building repaired again, getting rid of the 1846 modifications and reinstating its original Baroque appearance. In 1940 the house and the estate went to the Essberger family from Hamburg, Germany, owners of the Essberger Shipping company. From 1945 to 1955, the British garrison headquarters was located here, and, from 1955 to 1957, part of the house was rented to the British ambassador. On 1 November 1958, the house was restored to John Theodor Essberger, who died in 1959, whereupon his daughter, Lieselotte von Rantzau inherited it. Frau Liselotte von Rantzau died in 1993, and since such time it has been owned by her sons, Dr. Eberhart and Heinrich von Rantzau.


Ruins of Thal Castle

Thal Castle was first mentioned in the records in 1259, having been built on a hillock between the present parish church and the lake of Thalersee, probably at the beginning of the 13th century. The castle was surrounded by a thick defensive wall with embrasures and battlement walks (''Wehrgänge''). Within the wall was the ''
Palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson ...
'' and other residential buildings like the castle church dedicated to St. James. In 1569, Unterthal Castle and the estates of Sebastian of Windisch-Graetz were sold to the
Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
n governor (''Landeshauptmann''), Georg von Khevenhüller. From 1621, when it was owned by the Eggenberger family, the castle fell into ruins. In 1715, a fire destroyed large parts of the fortress. By around 1750 the castle church had also fallen into ruins. In 1772, the statue of the church patron was ceremoniously transferred to the present parish church and the old church demolished. In the subsequent period, only the round tower was occupied until 1979. In 1996, parts of the castle were restored and made habitable again.


Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum

Opened in 2011, the museum is located in the former forester's lodge of the Herberstein dynasty. Numerous exhibits show his remarkable career, including his most important stages of life like his childhood and adolescence, becoming the world's best bodybuilder, a worldwide star, and the Governor of California.


References


External links


Thal im Wiki
{{authority control Arnold Schwarzenegger Cities and towns in Graz-Umgebung District