Famecrawler
How Is Von Trapp Family Story Different From The Sound Of Music?
The Sound Of Music Differs From True Von Trapp Family Story
The Sound Of Music is an epic film that fans continue to love and cherish to this day. What most people don’t know is that the story of the real Von Trapp Family, and the story told in the movie aren’t exactly one and the same. There are many discrepancies between the Von Trapp Family’s true experience in Austria, and Julie Andrews’ experience with Captain Georg Von Trapp and his seven children.
First of all, there were actually ten children in the Von Trapp family, not seven. Seven of the children were from Georg Von Trapp’s marriage to his first wife, but he and Maria eventually had three children of their own together.
Maria came to the Von Trapp Family home as a teacher for Georg’s daughter, also named Maria, who was recovering from scarlet fever. All of the real names of the Von Trapp children were changed in the movie. Maria fell in love with the children first, but didn’t feel the same about Georg until after they were married. She grew to love him very deeply.
Another big difference between the Von Trapp true story and The Sound Of Music is that Georg Von Trapp was actually a very gentle, loving man. He did not run his house like a ship, and he was affectionate with his children.
The final scene in The Sound Of Music with the Von Trapp Family climbing over the Alps into Switzerland did not happen. The family left Austria because they opposed the Nazi regime, not because they were in danger. They traveled to Italy, not Switzerland, and eventually went to the United States to tour as a singing group.
The Von Trapp Family ultimately settled in Stowe, Vermont, where they bought a farm and started a singing camp. Georg Von Trapp died in 1948, and is buried on the property, which is now the Trapp Family Lodge. Maria Von Trapp was laid to rest beside him in 1987.
Go Back To Famecrawler
2 Comments
Kurious2no commented on Dec 30 10 at 2:00 pmThe tale is a bit more different than even what you have written. Maria Kutschera came to teach Maria in 1922 and married Georg 5 years later on 11/26/27. Rosemarie was born 2 months and 13 days later on 2/8/28. Ooops! They did not leave Austria until 1937 or 1938 (accounts differ) – at least 10 years after they were married. Although Austrian by birth, when the Austrian-Hungarian Empire fell after WWI, Georg’s home town came under the control of the Kingdom of Italy and he had Italian citizenship. (It is now part of Croatia.) He was in no danger of being conscripted into the German Navy.
The oldest child was not Agathe but Rupert born 11/1/11
That being said, there is no doubt that the Sound of Music is a delightful movie even if it is mostly fictionalized.
David Taylor commented on May 05 11 at 8:57 amI was always amused on the ending of the film where they are walking on top of the moutain and had not carried any food,just clothes on their back. To travel on foot to Switzerland ( Italy). I know it’s just a movie but after years not seeing it, I really just noticed.lol. I was just a child when I first saw the film and little kids could really care about the techincal parts of the film.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Christopher Rogers 
Shana Aborn 
Joanna Mazewski 
Sunny Chanel 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
2