Schwarzenegger inaugurates his museum in Austria

For a day at least, Arnold Schwarzenegger could forget about his messy divorce and bask in the adulation of a sympathetic crowd.

As an oom-pah band played, the action star-turned-politician inaugurated a museum dedicated to him in his native Austria, setting off cheers Friday as he pulled a string to unveil a bronze statue of a young Arnie flexing in the skintight trunks of his Mr. Universe days.

It's a far cry from the kind of reception he's getting in the United States.

Schwarzenegger is under fire back home since acknowledging this year that he fathered a child with a woman who worked as his family's housekeeper. The revelation led Maria Shriver, his wife of 25 years, to file for divorce. He's now in the headlines these days more for his personal problems than his professional exploits as body builder, Hollywood star and California governor.

There was little criticism Friday, however, as he returned to the village of Thal, near the southern city Graz, to formally open the Schwarzenegger museum in the more than two-century-old house of his birth.

In words and actions, it was clear that Austria's most famous living son preferred to dwell on the accomplishments of the past rather than deal with the painful present - and that his adoring fans were ready to play the game.

Those close enough to see him among the hundreds who braved driving rain and an autumn chill cheered and whistled in appreciation as he uncovered the 2 1/2 meter (8-foot) Schwarzenegger bronze, set up close to the museum entrance.

The statue is one of seven commissioned by Schwarzenegger this year and cast by an Oregon company, perhaps a prelude to plans for similar sites elsewhere.