Amazing Stories from the Web
continued from No. 17THE VON TRAPP FAMILY
Pre-Reading:
Discussion Questions
1. What would you like to do after school?
2. Would you follow your parents’ advice about your future career?
Until The Sound of Music was released to thunderous applause in 1965, Gone with the Wind, the 1939 epic about the Civil War in the United States, was the most successful film of all times. Why did the musical become so popular?
 The Von Trapp Family |
 The Trapp Family Singers. |
It is a story of a young Austrian nun named Maria who is trying to find her true calling in life. Fate brings her into a family of seven motherless children with a very strict father. Maria becomes a governess, then a friend, and then a step-mother to the children. True to the genre conventions, she falls in love with the father, and the whole family fall in love with her. Such stories are always supposed to end with a wedding, and with the words, “They all lived happily ever after”, either said, or hovering in the air.
Yes, the first part of the film ends with a wedding. Surprisingly, it was not the traditional happy end. The action takes place in Austria, right before the so-called Anschluss, the sudden occupation of Austria by the German Army in 1938. After the comic episodes, the singing and dancing, we are plunged into a sequence in which the whole family has to cross the Alps on foot in order to escape from the Nazis. Is it possible that this story has a foundation in fact? Indeed it is.
The Von Trapps really lived in Austria before they had to move away forever. When they arrived in the United States in 1938, they settled in Pennsylvania and made money by singing baroque and folk music. They bought a house and a farm, and when the family went on tours singing, Maria stayed home and rented out rooms to earn a little money. Her husband died in 1947 (Maria died in 1987). Maria wrote a bestselling book about her family adventures. In the 1950’s, she sold the rights to the family story to a German film company for just $9,000. In 1959, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “The Sound of Music” was produced on Broadway. Later, it was turned into an extremely successful film.
Johannes Von Trapp, the tenth and youngest child of the big family, remembers growing up in a quiet, strict home. When the film was released, everything changed. “You could no longer give your name anywhere without people saying ‘Oh, are you...?’” says Mr. von Trapp, now 70. “The Sound of Music was great, but it was an American version of my family’s life,” Johannes adds. For example, it does not mention the three children who were born to Maria and her husband (in addition to the seven children whom we see in the film). Maria assumed all the responsibilities of the mother of such a big family. She was very economical, and a competent housekeeper who managed to live within her means. All the children got good education and each of them pursued their own careers.
For many years, the Von Trapps have been running a ski lodge, getting a good number of visitors during the skiing season. But in the off season, the “Sound of Music” bus tours arrive, full of seniors who line their purses with cellophane so they can stuff them with Austrian pastries at the breakfast buffet. Johannes recently discovered that his gift shop had been selling a stuffed goat that sings “The Lonely Goatherd”, one of the most popular songs from the movie.
When Sam, one of Maria’s many grandchildren, graduated from college, his father Johannes offered him a deal. Sam could do what he wanted for ten years, and then return home to run the family ski lodge. Sam traveled around the world, did some modeling for Ralph Lauren, and got included into the Top 50 Most Eligible Bachelors by PEOPLE magazine in 2001. So why was he looking at some old curtains when he came back home? In the beloved 1965 movie, Maria, the governess played by Julie Andrews, turned old curtains into play clothes for the seven von Trapp children, just as the real Maria had done. Mr. von Trapp thought that if he sold von Trapp draperies on eBay, he might get a nice profit. For Sam, a generation removed from “The Sound of Music,” the burden of being a von Trapp is lighter than his father, whose youth coincided with the release of the film. Sam has seen the movie only twice, and he is the child of a Vermonter, not the son of an Austrian baron. He really appreciates the free advertising that the family business gets from The Sound of Music.
 The Family Von Trapp in the "Sound of Music" |
 Julie Andrews (Maria in the "Sound of Music") |
 Christopher Plummer |
The real Maria von Trapp makes an appearance in The Sound of Music. She and her daughter Rosemarie can be seen walking past an archway during the song, “I Have Confidence”, at the line, “I must stop these doubts, all these worries/If I don’t, I just know I’ll turn back.”
For many Americans, the fact that they can go to Vermont and meet the descendants of their beloved movie characters is a real thrill. In the town of Salzburg, Austria, you will be shown places which remind people of the Von Trapp family, as well as of the film.
nun (n.) монахиня
conventions (n. pl.) traditions
hover (v.) stay in the air in one place
plunge (v.) to suddenly move or jump forward and down
lodge (n.) a small house or inn for hunters, skiers etc.
stuff (v.) to fill
draperies (n. pl.) cloths, materials
If you are interested in this story, you may wish to read more about the Von Trapps, as well as the history of Austria. Just open any search engine, like