In Netflix’s new documentary, Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up on his family’s past in Austria and how his brother, Meinhard, died.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has relived the devastating moment he found out his older brother died in a drink driving crash.

In 1971, Meinhard Schwarzenegger was killed at the age of 24 after crashing into a telephone pole in Austria.

Schwarzenegger didn’t attend the funeral, and in the years running up to Meinhard’s death, had distanced himself from his family, moving away from their hometown in order to do competitive bodybuilding.

Recounting the moment he found out his brother’s fate in his new Netflix documentary, Arnold, the actor stated: “I was like stunned.

“He was always the darling of the family. He was very artistic. Very smart. Read a lot. But I don’t think my brother ever was really happy.”

Arnold relives the moment he found out his brother died (Image: Netflix)

“I think he started drinking because our upbringing was very tough,” Arnold continued.

“The brutality that was at home, the beatings that we got from our parents sometimes, all of this I think he could not sustain that punishment. He was much more delicate of a person by nature.”

Raised by his mother and father, Aurelia and Gustav Schwarzenegger, Arnold said the fallout from being on the losing side of World War II left the country “a city of broken men”, with many – including his father – having post-traumatic stress they covered up with alcohol or violent outbursts.

“We had a very kind of schizophrenic behavior that my brother and I witnessed at home,” the star detailed.

“There was the kind father, and then there was the other times where a father would come home drunk and he would scream at three in the morning.

“We would wake up and all of a sudden our hearts were pounding because we knew what that meant.

You know, that he could at any given time strike my mother or go crazy. There was this kind of strange violence.”

Schwarzenegger grew up in Austria with his mother, father and brother (Image: Getty)

However, Arnold also states it was this kind of volatile family life that ultimately shaped him, while simultaneously having a massive negative impact on his big brother.

“The kind of upbringing that we had was beneficial for someone like me, who was instead very strong and very determined, but my brother was more fragile,” he said.

“Nietzsche was right. That ‘what does not kill you will make you stronger’.

“The very thing that made me who I am today was the very thing that destroyed him.”

“I mean, he was a year older, my brother, more muscular, smarter. He was very good in school.

My father also made us compete against each other- who runs faster, who picks more beautiful flowers on Mother’s Day.”

“My father gave me that drive, he gave me that fire in the belly and then with the message – whatever you do Arnold, be useful,” he said.