Hot History
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The real family behind the Sound of Music, we're digging into the history behind the 1965 blockbuster film on location in Salzburg Austria!
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Hello and welcome back to a brand new and very special episode of Hot History because I am recording for you guys today, live from Salzburg, Austria. And while I am so excited to be over here, I am even more excited to have you listening along from wherever in the world you are, as we talk about all the things in history that you probably should know, but don't. In today's episode, I want to chat about a family who I have spent a great deal of my childhood with, and the reason that I am actually here in Salzburg. To begin with, the real people behind the hit The Sound of Music, the Von Trapp family.
Class is in session.
Okay, guys, so like I said, I'm in Salzburg, Austria this week with the incredible team at Austria Tourism to celebrate 60 years of The Sound of Music film being released into cinemas. I am honestly such a fan of the original, so I was so thrilled to get the chance to come over here and see the filming locations, experience the local culture, and of course, dig deeper into the real history behind the film. So let's start at the very beginning, the very best place to start, on January 26, 1905.
So on January 26, Maria Augusta Kuchera was born aboard a train travelling through Habsburg-controlled Austria. Her parents, who were unmarried, died when she was very young, her mother from pneumonia and her father from what she later called a broken heart. So by the age of two, Maria was orphaned and spent her time being passed from relative to relative before she was finally taken in by a rather violent atheistic uncle who raised her in a strict and joyless household in Vienna. So no joyful, joyful, hill-roaming, singing nuns in her early years. But Maria didn't let her circumstances keep her down.
She enjoyed music and would spend her Sundays listening to various choirs and singing groups while her weeks were filled with pursuing her fierce intellect at teachers' college. But here she also struggled with authority and often challenged her professors on their Catholic teachings, given her uncle's strong atheistic views. Rather ironically, it was actually a priest's sermon that pursued her towards religion in the end, not because she agreed with it, but because she actually wanted to disprove it. So to do so, she decided to explore the church, and she did that by enrolling at Nonberg Abbey, a Benedictine convent in Salzburg, which I have just been to, literally, yesterday.
It is very small, it is very unassuming, and it is very, very devout. In fact, it is one of the strictest convents in Austria, which Maria, whose children later described as someone who did everything at one hundred and ten percent, decided to throw herself into. Not out of devout faith, but as a way to test herself and seek peace. What she found instead was a purpose she didn't expect. But let's put a pin in Maria for a moment and turn to one, Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp. Born in eighteen eighty, in what is now Croatia, but at the time was a part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, Georg descended from an aristocratic family, hence the Von, in von Trapp. His father was a naval officer, and Georg followed in his footsteps by attending the Imperial and Royal Naval Academy in Fijian. As a captain in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Georg von Trapp became a decorated submarine commander during World War I. That's right, the captain was in fact a submarine captain, an interest which led him to the British-born Agatha Whitehead, his first wife. Now, rather interestingly, she was the granddaughter of Robert Whitehead, who invented the modern torpedo.
She was also incredibly wealthy, so the match was made in aristocratic and militant heaven.
During World War One, Georg gained national recognition for sinking multiple enemy ships and was largely considered a war hero by the nation, his wife, and their seven children. Rupert, Agatha, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna, and Martina, which you'll recognise are not the names of the children in the movie, but we'll get to more on that later. So after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in nineteen eighteen, Georg returned to a now completely landlocked Austria, leaving him without a career and soon without a wife. When Agatha died in nineteen twenty-two of scarlet fever, now a widower, Georg was
left with seven children, which is how we come back to Maria. So back at Nürnberg Abbey, a now twenty-one-year-old Maria is struggling with life as a nun. So the mother abbess of the abbey decides to send her out into the world before Maria would take her vows and her task would be to care for one of the sick von Trapp children who was still recovering from scarlet fever. So she was sent not to govern all seven children, as the movie suggests, but specifically to look after one daughter, Maria, after which she expected to return to the abbey. But her stay in the von Trapp household went far longer than expected.
The children, first of all, adored her. She was energetic and adventurous and that spirit of Maria who sang, played guitar, hiked mountains and brought a fresh sense of joy really rubbed off on the children. She was unlike anyone they'd ever met and they began to adopt these same hobbies for themselves. In her own memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Maria recalled that her entrance into the family felt like fate.
But it was not one that was defined by love at first sight. That's right, Maria and the captain, much like in the movie, did not hit it off straight away. And while Georg, twenty-five years her senior, admired her passion and moral strength, they remained professionally platonic for over a year, until when in nineteen twenty-seven, Georg asked her to marry him. Maria was genuinely stunned and returned to the abbey to consider his proposal and prayed on it. Eventually, she concluded that her calling was no longer in religious life, but in being a mother to the Von Trapp children. As such, Maria accepted the proposal. She didn't accept because she loved Georg.
She said, "I really and truly was not in love. I liked him, but didn't love him. However, I did love the children." So definitely not what we see in the film. But over time, though, the relationship between Maria and Georg deepened into mutual affection and respect, and they had three more children: Rosemary, Eleanor, and Johannes, bringing the total number of Von Trapp kids to ten. Quite the group, which is particularly helpful if you want to form a singing group, which is exactly what the Von Trapp family did. Now Maria, a naturally gifted singer and musician, fostered the children's musical talents.
With the help of father Franz Wasner, a family friend and musical mentor, the Von Trapp's became the Trapp Family Choir, later known as the Trapp Family Singers. Together, they performed a mix of sacred music, madrigals, Austrian folk songs, and classical pieces in churches and concert halls across Europe, with their talent winning them the Salzburg Music Competition of nineteen thirty-six, after which they began touring professionally. Now at first, like in the film, Georg was reluctant to commercialize the family's talents, seeing it as completely undignified. Again, that members of the aristocracy. But with the collapse of Austria's economy and the loss of their wealth in a failed bank, singing became a financial necessity.
That's right, we are at the point where we introduce the Nazi Party. Perhaps the most famous part of their story. The Von Trapp family fled Austria following the nineteen thirty eight annexation of Austria or Anschluss by Nazi Germany. The Von Trapps, devout Catholics and strong anti-Nazis, were deeply opposed to Hitler's regime. Georg, known for his military record, was offered a position in the German Navy and he refused. The family was also asked to perform at Nazi functions, including in front of Hitler and again. Refused. And when their eldest son turned down work in service to Nazi hospitals, they began to fear for persecution.
And no longer feeling any sense of home in their own country, the family decided it was time to leave. However. A very big however, a very big stipulation, a very big asterisk, they did not flee over the Alps with suitcases and guitars on foot as the movie famously depicts mainly. Because if they'd done that, they would have actually been trekking into Nazi Germany. But instead, they took a train to Italy, leveraging Georg's Italian citizenship due to his birthplace in Dalmatia, which again is now Croatia, but at the time was under Italian rule. And there they were able to escape, thanks to their butler actually, who himself was a devout Nazi,
but still felt loyal to the family, um, and told them when the borders would be closed, allowing them to escape. From Italy, they then travelled to London and then to the US on a performance visa. And with few possessions and little money, they began touring the country by bus, singing in churches, schools and town halls. They eventually settled in Stow, Vermont, in the early nineteen forties and purchased a farm that became the Trapp Family Lodge, which still actually operates till this day. Here, the family lived modestly, worked hard and integrated into American life while maintaining their Austrian identity. Although they did become known as the Trapps, not the Von Trapps, which suggested aristocracy that no longer existed after the fall of the empire.
In nineteen forty nine, Maria published her memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, and it was a candid, spiritual and sometimes humorous account of their journey from Austria to America. Here, the book caught the attention of Hollywood producers and inspired a 1956 German film, Die Trapp Familie. That, in turn, led to the creation of the Rogers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, The Sound of Music, in 1959, and eventually the blockbuster 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Hot. So let's talk about the film now. Originally, the rights to adapt The Sound of Music for the screen were purchased by
20th Century Fox, and they initially considered director William Wyler, who had just directed Ben Hur, but he disliked musicals, which you know is kind of important if you're gonna direct a fucking musical. So, they landed on Robert Weiss. Fresh off the success of West Side Story 1961, Weiss was paired with screenwriter Ernest Lehman, who made significant changes to the Broadway show to make it more cinematic. This included removing some songs, adding new ones, reconstructing scenes, and increasing the emotional weight of the story. The studio's first and most crucial decision was, of course, casting Maria. The role was a tricky one.
It required charm, musicality, and strength, and by 1963, Julie Andrews was the rising star of musical film, thanks to her legendary stage work and her upcoming lead role in Mary Poppins. Now, Poppins had not yet been released, but director Robert Weiss saw an early cut of the film and was instantly convinced that Andrews was the perfect Maria. She had the voice, energy, and likability the role demanded, and she accepted the role, and Mary Poppins' subsequent success only confirmed that it was a brilliant casting decision. For the captain, Weiss cast the beautiful and brilliant Christopher Plummer, a respected
Canadian stage actor with a deep voice, aristocratic demeanor, and simmering intensity. Plummer was hesitant, actually, about taking the role at first, fearing the film would be overly sentimental and dull. He later described it as "the sound of mucus", but he agreed after revisions made his character more layered and the promise that he wouldn't have to sing all of his parts solo. Actually, Bill Lee dubbed his singing voice "Fade Weiss". Much of the film's magic, though, comes from its location, which was shot right here in Salzburg, Austria. A departure for many, many musicals of the time, which were mostly shot on studio backlots.
Director Robert Wise, however, wanted the grandeur of the Austrian Alps to frame the entire story, and my god, was he right. It is genuinely breathtaking here, guys. Everything looks painted. It is like so. You can't even find the right words for it. It is so intoxicating, maybe? Like, I just feel like I could really spend all day in open fields, just staring at the field, like, up at the hills. I feel like Maria. It's like a whole thing. So filming began here in nineteen sixty-four, with Wise and cinematographer Ted McCord using seventy-millimeter film, which allowed for rich, high-res visuals.
The famous opening shot of Julie Andrews spinning on a mountaintop was filmed via helicopter. An extremely difficult and risky shot due to turbulence and the actress repeatedly being knocked over by rotor wash. Again, we have to remember at this point drones, like, weren't a thing, so it was this giant helicopter whizzing around. And if you re-watch the opening shot, you can see the grass absolutely being flogged by the rotor wash. The Von Trapp estate, uh, used in the movie was also a little bit of movie magic. It was a mix of multiple locations and sets, stitched together through very clever editing. For example, the iconic gazebo scene from Sixteen Going on Seventeen was filmed in both a real location, which I went to, I saw the gazebo,
and on a Hollywood soundstage due to lighting and space limitations. Remember, there's like a whole dance routine in there. Um, so the gazebo was actually split in half and they could rotate it around as per the, like, dancing requirements. Again, movie magic. Um, and the same thing goes for many of the interior scenes, such as the ballroom, the Abbey Coisters and the Trapp family home, which were filmed on Fox's soundstages in Los Angeles. To do this, set designers carefully recreated Austrian interiors with a blend of authenticity and that certain fairy tale charm that the film really has throughout. While the costume designer Dorothy Jekins created traditional Austrian style garments with a Broadway flair.
Most notably, of course, Maria's Curtain made play clothes. Richard Rogers, working alone after the very sad death of Oscar Hammerstein in nineteen sixty, agreed to write two new songs for the film, I Have Confidence and Something Good. And every number was carefully rehearsed and often lip synced, sorry, to pre-recorded tracks, as was standard practice in musicals of the time. Wicked today would never. While the final film looks seamless, the production wasn't always harmonious. The children, for example, were delightful on screen but required constant wrangling.
In fact, they were almost kicked out of their hotel at one point when they stole various hotel guests' shoes. Which, back in the day, you stayed at a nice hotel, you placed your shoes outside your room and staff came through and shined them throughout the night, so you had shiny shoes each morning. And the kids decided that it would be just the best prank in the world to go and steal different people's shoes. And not only hide them, but switch them on various floors and various rooms. So they were literally nearly kicked out of their hotel. The weather in Austria was also very unpredictable, resulting in delays. Christopher Plummer famously clashed with the filmmakers and he was noted to have drank heavily during filming,
though his performances remained tightly controlled and emotionally grounded. And as per usual, we of course wouldn't expect anything less. Julie Andrews was universally adored by cast and crew alike. With her sense of humour, professionalism and ability to switch between playful and serious, made her a natural leader amongst the cast, pop-off queen. Released on March second nineteen sixty-five, The Sound of Music became a box office sensation, earning over two hundred and eighty million globally. It surpassed Gone with the Wind to become the highest grossing film of all time, until The Godfather and Jaws then came along. It also won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Wise and Best Music.
As for its deviations from fact, we have, as I said before, the changing of the children's names. Maria's employment as a governess for all seven children, when in fact it was just one. The timing of Maria and Georg's marriage, which was much later in the film, and also not love at first sight. Georg is seen as cold and dismissive when in fact his children said that he was a very loving father. And of course, as I said, the escape into the hills, which did not happen, they would have crossed the Oberst Lausburg and ended up in Nazi Germany, so. Geographically, impossible. With the death of Georg in nineteen forty seven, Maria carried on her family's legacy until her own passing in nineteen eighty seven at age eighty two.
So we've covered nearly a hundred years of history when looking at the life of Georg and Maria, but who else is kicking around at the same time as the Von Trapps? Well, Georg was eighteen when Empress Sissy was assassinated, Maria was born the same year as Christian Dior. The same year that Einstein published his work on relativity, and at that point, all of the Romanov children were born and alive. Both Georg and Maria were alive for the birth of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and Queen's Lipper the Second. While Georg died the same year the British Raj concluded, leading to the creation of the independent nations of India and Pakistan. And the same year that Anne Frank's Diary was published.
Now, what influence do the Von Trapps have on modern times? All in all, guys, I love The Sound of Music. Some people think that it is a gross deviation of fact, to which I say. Grow up, guys. Come on. Don't get your historical knowledge from movies, babes. Let's be real. I think that The Sound of Music is a timeless classic of joy, purpose, and resistance. And still to this day remains some of the first touchpoints that I think a lot of young people have. With World War Two and the Nazis, something which I really think is so incredibly important for us to remember as the years passed. And something that can be really difficult to bring up, particularly amongst young people.
Again, I am biased by my own nostalgia here, and now by experiencing the beauty firsthand, I feel even more devoutly that I. Love the sound of music. And guys, I really, really do recommend if you ever get a chance to come to Austria. Definitely make a visit to Salzburg and its surrounding lake districts. It is fairy tale perfection, which has an incredibly rich history that the surroundings help bring to life. Still, to this day, I think the overall consensus is that the Von Trapp family's tale of resistance and survival is a lasting one. And finally, guys, how are the Von Trapp family remembered in pop culture?
Well, again, we have The Sound of Music film and The Broadway Show, plus their own memoirs and interviews. We also have parodies, including shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, SNL, and a few fabulous members of RuPaul's Drag Race who have performed numbers from the film. There is the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont, which Johannes, the youngest child, still runs, and of course, the various tours in Salzburg today, which pay homage to the family's history. So a pretty incredible legacy in both our history and pop culture. Which brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. If you would like to support us, then you can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as Hot History. Follow us on TikTok at hot dot history and on Instagram at Hot History Club.
As always, guys, it is a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you, and tune in next time as we discuss one of Austria's biggest baddies. Mother of Marie Antoinette, champion of Mozart, and breaker of everyone's expectations for how women should live, act, and rule. It's Empress Maria Theresa.
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