 Thal Report Part 2: Café & Arnold's Lake!
Café-Restaurant Thalersee: a Must for Arnold Fans!
Reported By: Kathryn Fogg
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s childhood Austrian village of Thal, a secluded lake surrounded by a fortress of trees is the site of two turning points of Arnold’s life. On a trip to Austria in October, my husband and I visited Arnold’s hometown of Thal, as well as the nearby city of Graz, the location of Arnold’s gym where he trained to become Mr. Universe. After we visited Arnold’s childhood house, school and church, we drove toward Thalersee (“see” is German for lake). I had read that Arnold used to dine at a restaurant on the lake and that pictures of him were all over the wall. What clues to Arnold’s past would be revealed by our visit to the lake and restaurant?
My husband Charles drove past beautiful meadows and pines in Thal until we saw a small, green lake shimmering through the trees. We parked under a sign that said “Café-Restaurant Thalersee” and walked toward a light blue building on the edge of the lake. We were greeted by an Austrian waiter who spoke English and led us inside the restaurant.
Entering the Café-Restaurant Thalersee, we saw a row of windows facing the lake on one side and a wall covered with large photos of Arnold on the other. The restaurant was decorated with chandeliers and large flowers and had a warm glow enhanced by the oranges and yellows of gourds, sunflowers, roses and wall paintings.
When we told the waiter that we were interested in gathering information for TheArnoldFans, he introduced me to the friendly staff. A law student named Stefanie translated their German into English. She introduced me to Elfi Kling, the wife of the restaurant’s owner and chef, Karl, and Elfi’s daughter, Carina, who helps her family by waitressing and working at the bar. Carina told me that her father used to hang out with Arnold Schwarzenegger. She met Arnold when she was around six years old, so she can’t remember him very well. Arnold’s mother Aurelia had been primarily a housewife, but she occasionally worked in the kitchen of this restaurant.
Hearing that my son Randy was the President of TheArnoldFans, Elfi presented me with several gifts for his Arnold collection! She gave me two signed photos of Arnold, an Arnold stamp, and a stamped envelope imprinted with a photo of Arnold’s church. I also bought postcards at the restaurant showing Arnold’s childhood church and school.
A huge side benefit of our search for Arnold information was that Charles and I enjoyed a most delicious lunch at the restaurant. The Austrian Oak used to eat wild mushroom soup, Wiener Schnitzel and strudel at the restaurant. My husband ordered goulash soup and Tafelspitz, the national dish of Austria, which is a boiled tri-tip cooked in a broth with potatoes and spices that inundate the meat and potatoes. Accompanying the Tafelspitz was applesauce mixed with shreds of horseradish. I ordered German potato salad so delicious that I sighed over every bite. We also shared an Austrian standard, pumpkin soup. My husband said that the food at that restaurant was the best he had tasted on our three-week trip throughout Bavaria and Austria.
Never have I visited a restaurant with such a helpful staff. Stefanie brought me a newspaper clipping and said she had something big to tell me about Arnold and the lake. She said that if we walked around the shore to the right, we would find a monument to Arnold’s proposal to Maria Shriver! Arnold had proposed to Maria in a rowboat on this lake on July 30, 1985 on his 38th birthday. The newspaper clipping showed the monument, the mayor of Thal, and Stefanie with her boyfriend Karl (Carina’s brother) posing in front of the monument wearing traditional Austrian clothing.
After Charles and I finished lunch, we walked along Thalersee toward the monument. We passed colorful tables with umbrellas, lanterns, a children’s playground, and pedal boats tethered to the shore. The water was absolutely still except for the wakes of ducks and yellow boats with slides on top that visitors peddled across the lake.
Arnold and other bodybuilders used to exercise near the boathouse and do chin-ups on nearby tree branches. A turning point in teenage Arnold’s life occurred here. He learned that his swimming teacher knew the most famous bodybuilder in Austria, Kurt Marnul, and Arnold begged to be introduced. Marnul drove to the lake to swim and meet his young fan. Marnul invited Arnold to train at his gym, and the rest is history.
Charles and I walked past the dock, and there was the proposal monument! Built to duplicate the red rowboat that once held Arnold and Maria, it was implanted vertically on the shore and had oars attached. Inside the boat was a photo of Arnold and Maria as well as a plaque saying in German that their marriage resulted in two daughters and two sons and that Arnold was the “Gouverneur von Kalifornien.”
Sparkling Thalersee was the site of two milestones in Arnold’s life: his meeting with his bodybuilding inspiration who invited him to the gym, and his proposal to Maria Shriver. I was on a mission to find clues to Arnold’s past, and this magical place provided them. I would like to thank Stefanie, Elfi, Carina and the rest of the Café-Restaurant Thalersee staff for sharing their Arnold knowledge and for treating us to a wonderful afternoon on the lake.
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Kathryn Fogg
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