Sarah Mitchell
The Trapp family, made famous by the musical and film The Sound of Music, were Catholic. Maria von Trapp, who wrote the autobiography that inspired the musical, was a devout Catholic. She had a difficult childhood and was raised by an abusive relative who instilled his atheism and antipathy towards Catholicism in her. However, after accidentally going to Mass, she was drawn to the religion. The family was instructed in music by a Catholic priest, Franz Wasner, who became their musical director. The family's priest acted as their musical director for over 20 years.
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What You'll Learn
Maria von Trapp was a devout Catholic
Maria von Trapp wrote the family autobiography that became the basis for the musical and film The Sound of Music. She praised the film for its religious sensibility, saying it brought joy and hope to millions of people. She also said that the film helped people restore their confidence in God.
Maria was a caring and loving person, but she had a terrible temper. Her feelings would immediately be relieved and her good humour restored, while other family members, particularly her husband, found it less easy to recover.
The von Trapp family was a respected Austrian singing group throughout their career. They sang and played music together largely for religious reasons. They performed their unique mixture of liturgical music, madrigals, folk music, and instrumentals to audiences in over 30 countries for 20 years.
After World War II, the von Trapp family founded the Trapp Family Austrian Relief Fund, which sent food and clothing to impoverished people in Austria.
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The von Trapp family fled Austria due to Nazi ideology
The von Trapp family was a singing group formed from the family of former Austrian naval commander Georg von Trapp. The family achieved fame in their original singing career in their native Austria during the interwar period. They also performed in the United States before immigrating there permanently to escape the deteriorating situation in Austria leading up to World War II.
In 1938, when Adolf Hitler invaded Austria, the von Trapp family fled to Italy, where Georg was born and was thus an Italian citizen, along with his wife and children. They stayed for some months in Warmond, near The Hague, Netherlands, as guests of a Dutch banker, Ernest Menten. They then went to London and then to the United States, where they stayed until their visas expired.
The von Trapps' escape from Austria was due to their opposition to Nazi ideology. Georg von Trapp declined a commission in the German Navy and a request for the family choir to perform at Hitler's birthday concert. His eldest son also refused a medical position at a prestigious Vienna hospital that had fired all its Jewish doctors. The family was also becoming aware of the Nazis' anti-religious propaganda and policies, the pervasive fear of spies, and the brainwashing of children against their parents. They decided that they could not compromise their principles and left.
After touring Scandinavia, the von Trapps returned to the United States on September 7, 1939, and applied for immigrant status. They had lost most of their fortune in the 1935 Austrian banking collapse. Once in the United States, they earned money by performing and touring, first as the "Trapp Family Choir" and then as the "Trapp Family Singers." After World War II, they founded the Trapp Family Austrian Relief Fund, sending food and clothing to impoverished people in Austria.
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Georg von Trapp declined a commission in the German Navy
Georg von Trapp was a highly decorated Austro-Hungarian Navy officer. He joined the navy at the age of fourteen and graduated from the Imperial and Royal Naval Academy four years later. During World War I, he led the submarines SM U-5 and SM U-14, which sank 13 Allied ships totalling about 45,669 gross register tonnage. For his service, he earned numerous decorations, including the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.
Following the defeat and collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, Austria was reduced in size to its landlocked German-speaking heartlands, and no longer required a navy. Von Trapp, therefore, found himself without a naval career. He retired with his family to a comfortable lifestyle in Austria.
In 1938, after the German takeover of Austria, Von Trapp was offered a commission in the Kriegsmarine navy of Nazi Germany. However, despite the tempting technological advances in U-boats, Von Trapp declined the offer out of hostility to Nazi ideology. He also declined a request for his family choir to perform at Hitler's birthday concert. Von Trapp's eldest son also refused to benefit from anti-Semitism, turning down a medical position at a prestigious Vienna hospital that had fired all its Jewish doctors.
Fearing arrest, Von Trapp fled with his family to the United States, where he set up a farm and lived out the rest of his life. The story of his family inspired the musical and film The Sound of Music.
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The family sang together for religious reasons
The Trapp family were a respected Austrian singing group throughout their career. The family sang together largely for religious reasons. The family was already musically inclined before Maria von Trapp arrived in 1926, with all members playing instruments and singing together. Maria, a devout Catholic, taught the family to sing madrigals, and they performed a mixture of liturgical music, folk music, and instrumentals.
Maria von Trapp, the stepmother to Captain Georg von Trapp's seven children, had a difficult childhood. Orphaned by the age of nine, she was raised by an abusive relative who instilled his atheism and antipathy towards Catholicism in her. However, after accidentally attending Mass, thinking it was a Bach concert, she was drawn to Catholicism. She entered the Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg, one of the most rigorous in Austria, and was later assigned to be a tutor to Georg von Trapp's third child.
Georg von Trapp was a national hero as a captain in the Austrian Navy during World War I. As part of his naval education, he was taught to play the violin. He met a Franciscan friar on a voyage to the Holy Land, who took him on a tour of Biblical sites. Trapp bought seven bottles of water from the Jordan River, later used to baptize his first seven children.
In 1935, the von Trapp family lost most of their fortune in an Austrian bank collapse. Around the same time, they met a Catholic priest, Franz Wasner, who instructed the children in sacred music. The family began singing at their local church in Aigen, and their performances were heard by the German concert singer Lotte Lehmann. She encouraged them to perform paid concerts, and they soon toured and performed in Vienna and Salzburg, as well as other European countries.
The von Trapps' priest, Reverend Franz Wasner, acted as their musical director for over 20 years. Their performances brought them to the attention of the Austrian Chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, who invited them to perform in Vienna. However, when Hitler invaded Austria in 1938, the family escaped to Italy and later the United States, where they continued to perform and toured internationally.
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Maria von Trapp wrote the family autobiography
Maria von Trapp, born in 1905, was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. She wrote the family autobiography, titled 'The Story of the Trapp Family Singers', which was published in 1949. The autobiography inspired the 1956 West German film 'The Trapp Family', which in turn inspired the 1959 Broadway musical 'The Sound of Music' and its 1965 film version.
Maria was the stepmother to Captain Georg von Trapp's seven children from his first marriage, and she and the Captain had three children of their own. Maria's autobiography details her difficult childhood. She was orphaned at nine years old and raised by an abusive relative who instilled his atheism and antipathy towards Catholicism in her. However, she accidentally attended a Mass, thinking it was a Bach concert, and was drawn to Catholicism. She entered the Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg, one of the most rigorous in Austria, and was later assigned to be a tutor to the third child of the widowed Captain von Trapp.
Maria's autobiography also recounts the family's escape from Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938. They first fled to Italy, then to England, and finally to the United States, where they settled in Stowe, Vermont, in 1941. They initially called themselves the "Trapp Family Choir" but later changed their name to the "Trapp Family Singers". The family earned money by performing and touring internationally, and they founded the Trapp Family Austrian Relief Fund after World War II to send food and clothing to impoverished people in Austria.
Maria's autobiography provides a first-hand account of the family's adventures and challenges, from their beginnings in Salzburg, Austria, to their new life in America. It reflects on their tragedies and victories, including the kindness of strangers who supported them during their journey. The autobiography offers a unique perspective on the family's musical career and their escape from Nazi occupation, providing a more personal and detailed narrative than what is depicted in the musical and film adaptations.
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Frequently asked questions
No, the von Trapps were Catholic.
Trapp's money was inherited from his English first wife and was invested in a bank in England. However, in 1935, Trapp withdrew most of his money and deposited it in an Austrian bank, which later failed, causing the family to lose most of their fortune.
The von Trapps left Austria because they refused to perform at Hitler's birthday concert and declined a commission in the German Navy. They realized that they could either go with Hitler or against him, so they decided to emigrate.
