With its themes of family and goodness triumphing over evil, The Sound of Music is widely regarded as a Christmastime staple. Those curling up to watch it with their own loved ones, however, may not realise that the von Trapps were, in fact, a real family - with even more singing children than the film depicts.
A sweeping musical drama released to acclaim in 1965, The Sound of Music is set during the dark days of Nazi-occupied Austria and sees lively trainee nun Maria (Julie Andrews) fall for stern yet principled widower Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) after being hired as a tutor for his seven children.
In time, free-spirited Maria connects with her young charges and eventually Captain von Trapp through her love of music, even setting up the von Trapp family choir. Long after her fellow nuns realise that convent life isn't for her, Maria comes to the same conclusion, wedding the captain and bringing joy into the bereaved household once more.
The true story, based on the real Maria's 1949 memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, hits many of the same notes. Like their fictional counterparts, the real von Trapps fled Austria after the Nazi invasion, making a new life for themselves in Vermont. They also enjoyed great success as singers in Austria and the US as the von Trapp Family Choir.
There are, however, a few stark differences, with ten von Trapp children instead of 'just' seven. The real Captain von Trapp, who shared seven children with his first wife Agathe: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna, and Martina, before welcoming Rosmarie, Eleonore, and Johannes with Maria. But what happened to them next after that daring escape?
Image:
BBC)Rupert
Born in 1911, Rupert was the eldest Von Trapp child, and you may not recognise his portrayal in the film. That is because the eldest child role was swapped out for the character of Liesl, the headstrong teenage daughter of the family who develops a crush on Rolf (Daniel Truhitte), a young delivery boy who later allies himself with the Nazi party.
In real life, Rupert left his family's famous choir to pursue a medical career, graduating from the University of Vermont in 1947. He passed away at the age of 80 in 1992.
Agathe
Agathe died in 2010 at the age of 97. Having followed in stepmother Maria's footsteps, she and longtime friend Mary Louise Kane ran a kindergarten school together until 1993. It's understood the character of Liesl was loosely based on Agathe, who opened up about her rather different version of events in her 2003 book Memories Before and After 'The Sound of Music.
Setting the record straight in an interview with AARP, Agathe said: "The movie is a very nice story, but it is not our story. And it misrepresented my father. He was not a dictator. He was very kind and did whatever was good for us. The movie says my stepmother was the first one who taught us music, with the song 'Do-Re-Mi'. But our father taught us to play musical instruments, and we were always making music with him."
Maria
Born in 1914, Maria's early poor health as a child was the factor that first brought governess Maria into the household. Despite having contended with such issues, Maria ended up living until the grand age of 99.
Following her death in 2014, family friend Marianne Dorfer, who runs the von Trapp Villa Hotel, told the Austrian Times: '"It was a surprise that she was the one in the family to live the longest because ever since she was a child she suffered from a weak heart. It was the fact that she suffered from this that her father decided to hire Maria von Trapp to teach her and her brothers and sisters. That, of course, then led to one of the most remarkable musical partnerships of the last century."
It's understood that Maria, whose movie counterpart was the mischievous Louisa, returned to her former family home in Salzburg in 2008, which had by that time been turned into a hotel.
Werner
Born in 1915, Werner was the inspiration for sweet Kurt in the film. A talented and versatile musician, he kept up his passion throughout his life. As per an obituary in The New York Times, Werner sang tenor in the von Trapp choir and was proficient in various instruments, including the cello. After the Trapp Family Singers disbanded, Werner helped found the Community School of Music in Reading, Pennsylvania. Werner died in 2007 at the age of 91, leaving behind his wife of 58 years, Erika, and their six children.
Hedwig
Born in 1917, Hedwig was the inspiration for bookworm Brigitta in The Sound of Music, and it's understood that she had a very artistic temperament. A keen photographer, she is said to have loved decorating trays and other such items with wood-burnt designs and, after the choir disbanded, she moved to Hawaii to teach singing and crafts. Her obituary states Hedwig sadly died following an asthma attack while visiting relatives in Austria in 1972, aged just 55.
Image:
Corbis via Getty Images)Johanna
Born in 1919, Johanna went on to sing soprano alongside sister Agathe in the family choir. As per her obituary, artistic Johanna, who is represented by little Marta in the film, married historian Ernst Florian Winter in 1948 and had seven children. She passed away Christmas Day 1994 in Vienna aged 75 following a stroke.
Martina
The inspiration for The Sound of Music's baby of the family Gretl, Martina was born in 1921 and went on to sing second soprano during her family's musical tours. Her obituary describes how Martina also possessed several other creative talents, including calligraphy and decorating wooden plates, bowls, and boxes.
In 1949, Martina married Canadian Jean Dupiere and declined to join the rest of her family on their 1950/51 tour after becoming pregnant with her first child. Sadly, Martina died due to complications during childbirth in 1951, aged just 30 years old. She and her stillborn daughter were buried together.
Image:
trappfamilylodge/Instagram)Rosmarie
The last surviving sibling to be portrayed in the film, as well as the last remaining female member of the original Trapp Family Singers., Rosmarie passed away in 2022, at the age of 93. The first child of Georg and Maria, Rosmarie became a US citizen in 1951, at which point she omitted 'von' from her surname. She went on to spend five years In Papua New Guineas as a teacher and missionary alongside sister Maria.
An announcement posted to Instagram by family members at the time read as follows: "Stowe lost one of its kindest, most gentle souls yesterday. Rosmarie Trapp passed away peacefully on Friday evening at the age of 93; she was in the presence of loved ones all day long. Her kindness, generosity, and colourful spirit were legendary, and she had a positive impact on countless lives. Please respect our family's privacy as we take time to process this loss, and prepare to celebrate the life of an amazing woman. We believe the best way to recognise Rosmarie is to demonstrate the same selfless kindness and generosity that she exemplified daily."
Eleonore
Known as 'Lorli' to loved ones, Eleonore, born 1931, was the second child welcomed by Georg and Maria. A soprano, Eleonore travelled far and wide with her family of singers until she married coach and teacher Hugh David Campbell in 1954. The couple went on to have seven daughters, 18 grandchildren, and six great-grandsons, with Eleonore keen on teaching her children domestic skills such as churning ice cream and butter.
Following her death in 2021, at the age of 90, Eleonore's daughter Elizabeth Peters said: "The life of singing on tour is one that involves an extraordinary amount of discipline and hard work, and my mother lived as a teenager singing lead soprano, night after night after night, and toured much of the year, and it really shaped who she was. She was a very disciplined woman, and yet she missed out on many of the things that the rest of us enjoyed in high school and college years, and yet she was very grateful for all the travel and the experience she had."
Johannes
At 85, Johannes is the only member of the von Trapp family still living. Opening up about his childhood with Insightful Vacations back in May, Johannes touched upon the intense rehearsal regime the siblings were expecting to stick to during their time in the choir. Johannes shared: "Well, when we weren't traveling on concert tour, we were here in Stowe, Vermont, and we had rehearsals from ten to twelve and four to six daily. You were expected to learn the music on your own time, and the instrumental rehearsals were in addition to that. So to say that music was a part of my life is an understatement. I would run off into the woods to escape rehearsals."
Offering a little insight into the real Maria von Trapp, he added: "Oh, my mother was a very strong leader. Yes, everyone was with the program. Everyone had to be. That's right. And it was a survival matter for us. You know, as one of my sisters once said, 'if it weren't for mother's leadership, we would have all ended up as cooks and maids."
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