The REAL Von Trapp family

“Sound of Music” FICTION

Seven von Trapp children, the off-spring of Baron Ludwig von Trapp

and his first wife, Agathe Whiteheadvon Trapp. The children: Liesl,

Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta,Marta and Gretl.

The children were children when theNazis occupied of Austria and thefamily eventually “escaped.” The

oldest child was a girl, Liesl; she is 16 in the movie.

The baron, a stern, authoritarian figure, rounds up his children with a

boat captain’s whistle.

“Edelweiss” is cast as the Austriannational song, if not its national

anthem.

The von Trapp family escapes NaziAustria by hiking over the mountains

to Switzerland.

The baron was Austrian.

The baron was a wealthy aristocrat;and Maria brought singing to the

family.

Maria von Trapp was the governessto all the children and introduced

music to them.

Since the hugely successful moviewas based on the elder Maria von

Trapp’s book, you might get theimpression that the von Trapps got

rich.

Ten children. Seven children ofBaron von Trapp and his first wife,Agathe Whitehead von Trapp; threechildren of the baron and Maria, oneof whom, Johannes, was born inGermantown, Pa. The others wereborn in Austria.

The children were not all childrenduring the Nazi period. The oldest,Rupert, was in his 20s, studyingmedicine.

The baron was neither stern norauthoritarian, and the whistle wasused because the mansion was largeand there were many children. Itwas, according to the von Trappchildren, a useful and amusing wayto summon the brood.

“Edelwiess” is not the Austriannational anthem; it was composedby Rodgers and Hammerstein for theBroadway musical. It is the last songOscar Hammerstein composedbefore his death.

You can’t hike over the mountainsfrom Salzburg to Switzerland.Germany is actually across themountains from Salzburg. The family“escaped” — left is more like it —by packing their bags and taking thetrain to Italy.

The Baron felt himself to be Austrianbut he was an Italian citizen. He wasfrom Trieste, which was formerlypart of Austria and later became partof Italy. As a result, his citizenshiptransfered to Italy. Which is why thefamily f led to Italy.

The family sang long before thearrival of Maria. By the 1930s, thevon Trapps had lost much of theirmoney in an Austrian bank collapse.The family rented out rooms in theirmansion and performed concerts forthe income.

Maria was hired to be the tutor ofthe young Maria von Trapp, and thefamily sang and played musictogether long before the arrival ofMaria.

The von Trapps did not get rich on“The Sound of Music” movie. Themovie is based on Maria’s book,“The Story of the Trapp FamilySingers”; she sold the movie rightsfor $9,000 cash and no royalties.