Real story of the von Trapp family singers

What a fun listen. So interesting to hear about the family’s story evaluation from Maria’s book to the Sound of Music movie. I always thought there was more to their story than in the movie.
I’ll have to research if Maria’s book was translated to English and is around somewhere on the internet to read or purchase.

Edited- I just looked it up. It was actually written in English and translated into German. The title is The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers is excellent! I schedule it in year 6 for my children.

The story has some even stranger twists. The BBC story explains that Captain von Trapp was a submarine commander, but not where he got the money for that big house in Salzburg.

It was his first wife's (mother of the 7 children), who had died. She was the grand daughter of a British engineer named Whitehead who had settled in Trieste in the steam age and worked on a number of projects on steam boats. One of his ideas eventually resulted in the torpedo, which he patented. For a time, it was referred to as the Whitehead torpedo. Patent royalties were collected in a British bank. So every time captain von Trapp sank a British ship (and he sank a lot), royalties accrued in the British bank. How ironic.

During the 20's, Austria was in a financial crisis, and Captain von Trapp, in an act of patriotism, was convinced to move his money from the British bank to an Austrian bank. The Austrian bank promptly went bust. Result was the Trapp Family Singers. They had to now sing for their supper, so to speak.

Captain von Trapp was able to leave Austria because he had an Italian passport. He was born in Zadar, now part of Croatia, then part of Austria, but in 1939, was a part of Italy. So he could claim Italian citizenship based on his birthplace.

A few years ago, we visited family in Vermont. They introduced us to a neighbor, "Chris." He had been their realtor and they'd become friends. We had a fun conversation. Later on, I said something about enjoying meeting him. My relative nonchalantly said, yes ... and did I mention that his last name is Von Trapp? His grandfather was one of the kids in the Von Trapp Family Singers. Huh. The family still runs a lodge in Stowe, Vermont.

Sam--

That's quite the interesting tidbit. I read Maria's book and watched some videos on the von Trapp family before going to Salzburg way back in 2014 -- my first trip to Europe as a tourist/traveler/whatever (had a prior trip to Russia with a church group to do a camp for kids in an orphanage). I never really wondered where the Captain got his money. Thanks for sharing!

Most people in Salzburg will tell you Maria was not the sweet angelic nun that Disney portrayed. She was an orphan and hated the ninety. She married not for love but because of the children. Finally according to the kids she was a very harsh disciplinarian.

ORF, Austria's national TV, broadcast recently a new documentary: The Sound of Music - The True Story.
It is in German, but if you are interested, you can download it from here.
You need to download it and use a video player, e.g., VLC, because most browsers distort it by using a wrong aspect ratio.

orphan and hated the ninety

?????

I visited the Von Trapp family farm and brewery in Vermont while on tour with Country Walkers. It was a lovely place, very serene with some walking trails. We also walked past the original homestead where they settled after coming to the US. If you are ever in Vermont look it up, it makes for a fun day trip.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-the-real-von-trapp-family-shares-their-story-in-stowe-vermont/ar-AA1SMKkW

more from BBC -

The last von Trapp child is 86 - and is still running their US lodge
The last living von Trapp child still helps run the family resort in the mountains of New England – where fans of The Sound of Music can explore a little slice of Austria.
In the rolling meadows and snow-dusted peaks of Stowe, Vermont, 86-year-old Johannes von Trapp still helps run the lodge his mother, Maria von Trapp, founded after the family fled Nazi-occupied Salzburg.
As his daughter Kristina von Trapp Frame recalls, Maria spotted a dilapidated farmhouse with a "For Sale" sign in 1942. "We can't replicate the views, but we can fix the house," Kristina says her grandmother told the family. That view, stretching across Vermont's Green Mountains, reminded them of the Austrian Alps they'd left behind.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20251106-the-story-of-how-the-sound-of-music-found-a-new-home-in-vermont

About ten years ago we stay in the Von Trapp home in Salzburg. You can rent room thru Booking.com.