Thal (Autriche)

Geschichte

Thal is a small village in Austria about west from the edge of Graz, Austria's second largest city. Its population in the 2014 census was 2,240. It is the birthplace of actor, bodybuilder, and the 38th Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, who lived in Thal until 1966 at age 19. On July 2011, Schwarzenegger opened his childhood house as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum. It also boasts a modern church.HistoryThe first forest village settlement was established in the 10th century. In the following two centuries, scattered hamlets grew up in the area. On 1 January 1850, the settlement became known as "St. Jacob Thal". On 1 January 1995, the village became a settlement with market town ("Marktgemeinde") status.GeographyThe village is located about 3.2 km west of the Styrian capital of Graz. 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 landmarksParish church of St. JacobIn 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 May 23, 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.