The ‘Sound of Music’ Echoes from Austria to Vermont in its Anniversary Year

For Kristina Von Trapp Frame, the “Sound of Music” isn’t just entertainment, it’s part of her history. And while her famous family name generates some unusual social interactions (“Everyone asks me if I can sing — that’s a ‘no’” she says), when it comes to visiting the shooting locations used in the 1965 film, the granddaughter of Maria Von Trapp becomes a fan like everyone else.

Celebrating the ‘Sound of Music’ in Austria

“I am very grateful when I’m invited to Austria and Salzburg because it is such a beautiful country with welcoming people,” Frame said, fresh off a visit to attend the opening of a new “Sound of Music” exhibit at Salzburg’s Schloss Leopoldskron, a rococo palace that stood in for the home of Capt. Georg Von Trapp in the movie and is now a hotel.

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The exhibit is part of a yearlong celebration of the 60th anniversary of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical adaptation of Maria’s book about her tutelage of the singing Von Trapp children, her romance with Georg and the family’s escape from the Nazi takeover of Austria and eventual resettlement in America.

Winner of 10 Academy Awards, including Best Actress honors for Julie Andrews as Maria, the “Sound of Music” was dismissed as schmaltz even by actor Christopher Plummer, who played Georg in the film. Regardless, the movie remains a top draw for American visitors to Austria in general and Salzburg in particular, where Panorama Tours runs multiple daily bus trips to sites associated with the film and the real-life Maria and the Von Trapp family.

“Many of the tour leaders have also visited us in Vermont so they can explain what happened to the family after we fled Austria,” Frame said. A new “Sound of Music” museum opening in Hellbrunn — another Austrian filming location — also aims to give a more complete telling of the Von Trapp story, which differs quite a bit from the Hollywood version (for example, the family actually fled Austria by train, not an over-the-mountains trek to Switzerland).

Founded in 696 A.D. on the site of an even older Roman settlement, the city of Salzburg is very much a costar in the “Sound of Music”: Some of its most famous historic sites appear in the film, including the circa 1736 Schloss Leopoldskron, the Felsenreitschule, or Summer Riding School, and the Mirabell Gardens, where Maria and the children sang “Do Re Mi” around the fountain.

Recalling the puppetry scene in the movie, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre — a UNESCO World Heritage site — will present its own version of the “Sound of Music” throughout 2025, as well.

Fact and fiction blend perfectly at the Nonnberg Abbey, where the real Maria (Kutschera) was a novice before being instructed by her abbess to serve as the baroness to Capt. Von Trapp. The nunnery also appears in the movie, both in the opening scene and later when the song “Maria” is staged in the courtyard. Show up early (6:45 a.m. to be precise) for the unique opportunity to hear modern day “Ave Marias” in the Nonnberg Abbey Church, sung by the nuns’ choir.

Outside of the city center, the Hellbrunn Palace is now home to the relocated gazebo where Liesl and Rolf sang “16 Going On 17” and the Captain and Maria performed the romantic “Something Good” duet.

Of course, Salzburg’s history doesn’t begin and end with a midcentury American musical: The city is at least equally famous as the home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born here in 1756. Both the Mozart residence on Makartplatz and the Mozart birthplace on Getreidegasse are museums, and the St. Peter Stiftskulinarium — reputedly the oldest restaurant in Europe — hosts candlelight Mozart dinners with live Amadeus Consort Salzburg performances.

The Von Trapps in Vermont

Those who can’t make the journey to Austria can celebrate the anniversary of the “Sound of Music” a little closer to home. The descendants of Georg and Maria still run the AAA Three Diamond designated Von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, founded 75 years ago this year.

Started as an Austrian-style alpine inn, the resort is credited with building the first Nordic (cross-country) ski area in the U.S., which still operates; a more recent addition is the excellent Von Trapp Brewery, which pairs authentic Austrian cuisine with traditional lager-style beers brewed on site. In addition to hearty cries of “Prost!,” visitors can celebrate the lodge’s anniversary with monthly events like a summer wine dinner in partnership with Austria’s Hopler winery.

Accuracy issues aside, Frame attributes the enduring popularity of the “Sound of Music” to its unexpected depth.

“I think that the movie does a good job of blending many different themes, and you recognize them when you are ready,” she said. “When you’re a child, you think the movie is only about children; when you are a teenager, you see the young love of Liesl and the mature love of Georg and Maria; when you are older you realize it’s about love of country and family values, and it’s actually quite a political movie.”

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Would you visit these “Sound of Music” landmarks? Tell us in the comments.

Featured image: Leopoldskron Palace with Leopoldskroner pond in Salzburg. The palace was depicted as the home of Capt. Georg Von Trapp in the “Sound of Music” and is now a hotel. Photo: ©Tourismus Salzburg GmbH/[Breitegger Günter]