Sound of Music

The Sound of Music was originally a stage musical, adapted as a 1965 film set in Salzburg, Austria. The film was a box office record-breaker in 29 countries, won five Oscars including Best Sound, Best Music and Best Picture, and was once the highest grossing movie of all time. While the film has never been popular in Austria itself, it is a great showcase of locations of the Alps.

Understand

The Trapp Family was a singing group formed in Salzburg in the 1930s by naval officer Georg von Trapp, his wife Maria (née Kutschera) and the family's children. After winning a prize at a local music competition in 1936, they turned professional, and toured all over Europe. Following Germany's 1938 annexation of Austria, they emigrated to Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, until settling in Vermont in the United States. As the Trapp Family Singers, they kept performing until 1957.

Maria von Trapp published a memoir in 1949, somewhat embellishing and glossing some facts, due to her controlling and self-promoting tendencies. The book inspired the 1956 West German comedy drama film Die Trapp-Familie, one of the most successful German films of the 1950s. This film is freely available in good quality with subtitles on YouTube, and makes for an interesting viewing experience, as the later classic movie followed its structure almost scene by scene, and despite not being a "musical" in the Broadway/Hollywood sense, it has some impressive musical numbers featuring the a capella polyphonic choral singing and the old Austrian hunting and sacred songs for which the family was then famous. Even though its screenwriters took some more artistic license with Maria's version for the sake of cinematic storytelling, and the family's children don't age in a 11-year timespan, it strives to be accurate and faithful to the Trapp Family's story, factually and musically.

This film in turn was the inspiration for the even more fictionalized stage play The Sound of Music, a full musical with an original score by Rodgers and Hammerstein and no songs from the family's repertoire, which debuted on Broadway in 1959. 20th Century Fox eventually bought its movie rights, and was slow to start production, because of the costly and troublesome shooting of Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor, and its poor box office numbers.

The latter film is set in 1938, as Maria (Julie Andrews), a spirited nun in a Catholic convent, is tasked by Mother Abbess to become governess of retired and widowed naval captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer)'s seven children – in reality, they married in 1927. While he has kept military discipline in the house, Maria is more free-spirited, and teaches the children with music. As Nazi Germany takes power over Austria (the Anschluss), the family decides to escape to Switzerland over the mountains on foot – in reality, by this time they were a nationally famous professional touring musical ensemble, and after refusing an invitation to sing at the Führer's birthday party, they quietly boarded a regular train to Italy. The German film's ending has a flavour of dated comedy: as the family is stranded in the Immigration Center at Ellis Island, with the (matte-painted) Statue of Liberty seen through a huge prison-like window in the background, the plot increases the tension of uncertainty until a cue for the family to launch a beautiful song that melts all hearts, opens all doors and assures the happy ending.

Reception and legacy

The Sound of Music has been a great world success, saved 20th Century Fox from bankruptcy, surpassed Gone With The Wind as the highest grossing movie of all time, stayed on exhibition until 1969 and has been referenced and lampooned by many other musicals, such as The Producers (with the show-within-a-show called Springtime for Hitler), Chess, and Sister Act. Still in the 2020s, the stage musical plays at many venues, and the story inspires many visitors to see Salzburg and Austria. However, the Hollywood version never appealed to a Germanophone audience, which is generally familiar with the Trapp Family story and playlist, and has always favoured the 1956 version. Besides the gross geographical impossibility of hiking all the way to Switzerland – the location choice for final scene is indeed unhappy, as they are actually walking into "Mordor", that is, the vicinity of the Berghof, Hitler's personal mountain retreat with a huge SS barracks on its backyard (the Eagle's Nest is briefly but clearly visible in the distance) – Austrians are prone to dislike the American songwriting (one song here was once described as "an insult to Austrian musical traditions") and might find their country presented in a stereotypical theme-park-like way, while Germans have been troubled by the Nazi theme, provided that the film was released only 20 years past World War II.

Nonnberg Abbey

Both films play into the "Austria victim theory"; the claim that the country was the first to be occupied by Nazi Germany, without regard to the many Austrian Nazi leaders, including Hitler, who were perpetrators in World War II and the Holocaust (see Holocaust remembrance#Austria for more information). The films take place just before the war, and focus on the Anschluss, though the German film approaches the question in a less "black and white" and more "shades of grey" manner than the American one.

In the 21th century, the city and the region have been coming to terms with the legacy of The Sound of Music, recognizing the business opportunities created by the film's world popularity, and adapting to create more ways to give fans what they want, with many filming location tours and musical events happening every year.

Destinations

Salzburg

Schloss Leopoldskron

• 1 Nonnberg Abbey. The oldest operational nunnery in the German-speaking world, founded in 715, where the real Maria also lived. It's the location for the beginning of the film. It was only shot on the outside; the interiors were mostly filmed in the American studio.  
• 2 Humboldt Terrasse. As Maria exits the nunnery, she starts singing "I Have Confidence" timidly; the camera cuts and she's now singing on this viewpoint. It's a clever film edit: Nonnberg Abbey is not across this street.  
• 3 Residenzplatz. The square in front of the prince-archbishops' centrally located ceremonial city palace, with the beautiful fountain with horses, where Maria goes full operatic singing "I Have Confidence". Later on in the film, the Nazi troops come marching in for the Anschluss.  
• 4 Kapitelplatz. This is where Maria hops into the bus, with the Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background.  
• 5 Schloss Frohnburg. Maria finishes singing "I Have Confidence" as she arrives here, at the location of the entrance to Villa von Trapp. Nowadays it's a dormitory for the Mozarteum University of Music and Arts.  
• 6 Schloss Leopoldskron. The location of the lakeside terrace and gardens of Villa von Trapp. Originally a summer residence for the prince-archbishops, nowadays it's a top-scale hotel. Some of its interiors inspired the indoors sets created in the American studio, and can be visited.  

The Sound of Music gazebo at Schloss Hellbrunn

• 7 Schloss Hellbrunn. This palace is world famous on its own, for its gardens and waterworks. Today the gardens are a public park and entrance to them is free. The white gazebo in the "16 Going On 17" scene, originally built by an American crew on the grounds of Leopoldskron and dismantled after filming, was later rebuilt here. A plaque was installed after the passing of Charmian Carr, who sang and danced on this scene as oldest daughter Liesl, said to be the only visible public commemoration of the film in Salzburg. The gazebo is kept locked, after an incident when a tourist, attempting to reenact the scene, danced on the benches and got injured.  
• 8 Mozartsteg. Art Deco pedestrian bridge, better known nowadays as the "Do Re Mi bridge", seen in the ending of the "My Favorite Things" song.  
• 9 Winkler Terrasse (Mönchsberg). Another nice city viewpoint, where Maria and the children go through the second verse of "Do Re Mi": When you know the notes to sing….  
• 10 Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz. The square with the Horse Pond fountain, designed and built in 1603 and originally used as a place to wash the parade horses of the prince-archbishops, is visited on foot by Maria and the children.  
• 11 Petersfriedhof (St. Peter's Cemetery). One of the oldest cemeteries in Salzburg, dating back to around 700. The scenes of the nuns' chapel at Nonnberg were shot inside the Gothic chapel here. No filming was done in the cemetery itself, but its tombs and atmosphere inspired the scenographic production in the American studio to such an extent that it's easy to believe otherwise. However, all the tombstones are recessed in the wall and one cannot hide behind any of them.  
• 12 Schloss Mirabell. A beautiful castle, built by an archbishop for his beloved courtesan, with gardens made famous by the "Do Re Mi" final dance sequence. Look for the Pegasus Fountain, the Garden of Gnomes, the Borghese Fencers and the Garden of Roses with the vine-covered hedge tunnel.  

  

  Felsenreitschule

• 13 Felsenreitschule. A very picturesque location, originally a horse riding school repurposed as an outdoors musical venue, built atop the quarry that supplied stone to build Salzburger Dom. It's one of the main sites of the annual Salzburg Music Festival. Here the family sings "Edelweiss" joined by the crowd, right before their escape.  
• 14 Hotel Villa Trapp Salzburg (the real Villa von Trapp), Traunstraße 34 (close to Kapuzinerberg). Seized by the Nazi Party in 1939 after the family fled the country, it was one of Heinrich Himmler's personal residences during the war. Afterwards, a religious group, the Catholic Missionaries of the Precious Blood, bought the property from the Von Trapps, who had had their ownership restored after the Nazis were defeated. The priests rented out the property in the 1990s and it became a hotel in 2008. As of November 2024, it's reported on Google Maps as permanently closed. (updated Nov 2024)

Elsewhere

• The overture, as the orchestra is seemingly warming up, consists of aerial footage shot mostly above the towns of 15 Fuschl am See and 16 St. Gilgen in Salzkammergut.
• 17 Mehlweg hill (Julie Andrews Meadow) (near the town of Marktschellenberg, accessible by the road from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden). As the orchestra starts a crescendo into the main theme, the helicopter camera slowly zooms onto this meadow, where Maria does the iconic anti-clockwise twirl with open arms to proclaim "the hills are alive…". It's reportedly on private land, off-limits to visitors. Most regular tours skip this place as too visitor-unfriendly. However, as seen more than once on YouTube travelogues, it's possible to get close and view it from a distance. The birch trees, the brook and its stones are scenic props added by the filming crew, of which no traces remain. 

  

  Mondsee Abbey

• 18 Mondsee Abbey (St. Michael's Basilica). The location for the scene of Georg and Maria's wedding. On the lakeside road nearby, were filmed scenes of Maria and the children bicycle riding.  

  

  The Do-Re-Mi Meadow is visible at top left, below the snowy peaks

• 19 Hohenwerfen Castle (Do-Re-Mi Meadow). This castle is most famous in movie history for its role as Schloss Adler, the Nazi stronghold broken in by Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood in the 1968 war classic Where Eagles Dare. Here, it is the backdrop for the beginning of the "Do Re Mi" scene. A marked hiking trail starts at the Werfen village's Tourist Office and goes through some cleverly designed trail markers until the filming spot. However, as of July 2024, the trail's upper section has been reported as closed for maintenance.  
• 20 Schafberg Railway. Said to be Austria's steepest cog railway, climbing 1,190 m with a track nearly 6 km long. An easy and nice day trip option for Salzburgers is to take bus 150 from Salzburg to St. Gilgen, and then take the ferry from St. Gilgen to St. Wolfgang where you board the train to the hilltop, an extensive 360-degree belvedere with amazing views. Maria and the children are seen aboard a blue version of this train—nowadays, it's painted red.  
• 21 Obersalzberg (Berchtesgaden, Upper Bavaria). Standing for Switzerland in the final scene of the von Trapp family escaping over the mountains. The actual filming spot is 22 Rossfeld, a favoured spot for skiing and hiking in a tiny Bavarian panhandle inside Austria, accessible by a toll road from Berchtesgaden.  
• 23 20th Century Studios (Century City, California). Where the indoors scenes were shot.  
• 24 Trapp Family Lodge, 700 Trapp Hill Rd (Stowe, Vermont), toll-free: +1-802-253-8511. Still owned and operated by descendants of Georg and Maria, this lodge has one of the area's most scenic views. In the winter, the public can enjoy cross-country skiing. In summer, concerts in the Trapp Family Meadow are popular with visitors and locals. Inside, the lodge is decorated with vintage memorabilia from the family's singing career. (updated Feb 2023)

Go next

The film misses out on many of Salzburg's greatest visitor attractions, such as the Hohensalzburg Fortress, Mozart's house, and the Stiegl Brewery.