When in Salzburg, you can’t miss the legacy of The Sound of Music.
You see it on Panorama Tours’ Sound of Music-branded buses buzzing around the city. You see it in Mirabell Gardens, where tourists from around the world recreate ‘Do Re Mi’ on the steps and by the fountain.
You hear it in the clatter of horse-drawn carriages on the cobblestones of Residenzplatz and in the tolling church bells of Mondsee Church and Nonnberg Abbey. You see it from the top of the clifftop Hohensalzburg Fortress, among the tombstones of St Peter’s Cemetery and in the rock-hewn theater of the Felsenreitschule.
The Sound of Music is, quite literally, everywhere.
When in Salzburg, you can’t miss the legacy of The Sound of Music.
Around 350,000 visitors go to Salzburg each year because of the Hollywood blockbuster. Thousands more seek out the locations while visiting this spectacularly beautiful, historic city. So how did this tourism juggernaut come about?
Let’s start at the very beginning
It began with a memoir published by Maria Augusta Trapp in 1949.
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers told the story of an extraordinary Austrian family who escaped the Nazis and built a new life in America. At its heart, it is a love story and a story about what it means to move to a new country and begin again.
That book became a Tony Award-winning musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Then Hollywood director Robert Wise took a chance on it and turned it into a movie.
Filmed in Salzburg in 1964, the movie starred the relatively unknown Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as the Captain. It premiered in New York in 1965, saved a Hollywood studio and became one of the most watched movies of all time.
It also became tourism gold for the city where it was filmed. The movie was a massive hit, winning five Academy Awards including Best Picture and breaking box office records in 29 countries. The soundtrack is still one of the most successful of all time. The stage musical won six Tony Awards.
At its heart, it is a love story and a story about what it means to move to a new country and begin again.
There is a lot in the Hollywood film that is true. Maria, then Kutschera, was at Nonnberg Abbey and was sent to be a governess for the widowed Captain Georg von Trapp. The Captain had seven children: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina.
Over time, the Captain and Maria fell in love. In 1927, they married at Nonnberg Abbey. They then had two daughters together, Rosemarie and Eleonore, and a son, Johannes, who was born in the United States after they fled Austria.
Much of what was in the movie is based on the book. Maria was a “problem,” with a penchant for whistling, sliding down banisters and taking stairs two or three at a time. She was sent to be the governess and the Captain was set to marry someone else.
When it comes to the children, the names were changed for the movie. Agathe became Liesl, Rupert became Friedrich, Maria became Louisa, Werner became Kurt, Hedwig became Brigitta, Johanna became Marta and Martina became Gretl.
The children were brought up with music and played many instruments. The Captain accompanied them on violin. They became known for their harmonizing and were so talented that they did win first place at the choral contest at the Felsenreitschule during the Salzburg Festival, just as they did in the film.
The Captain really did use a bosun’s whistle and he had different whistles for each child, mainly because the property was quite large. The family did escape Austria after Hitler annexed the country in 1938, but it was by choice and there was no dramatic chase.
According to Kristina von Trapp, daughter of Johannes and his wife Lynne and granddaughter of Maria and Georg, they pretended they were catching a train to go for a hike. In fact, they were escaping to Italy, leaving everything behind. They escaped just in time. Austria’s borders were closed the very next day.
After they escaped, the family toured the world for six months a year as the Trapp Family Singers, sharing their harmonies and musical talents with audiences in 30 countries.
Salzburg on the big screen
From the opening scene of Julie Andrews singing those famous words, “The hills are alive…” to the final scene of the family ‘escaping’ over the mountain, The Sound of Music resonated around the world.
A year or so later, people started coming to Salzburg and asking to see the movie’s locations. Nothing existed at the time. And so the family behind Panorama Tours, who had transported the cast and crew during filming, started a tour to satisfy the growing demand. The success of what is now known as The Original Sound of Music Tour is mind-blowing.
Nicholas Hammond (second from right) with his four surviving movie siblings at Leopoldskron for the 60th anniversary. Image: Victor Croce Photography
There are now numerous ways to combine the movie’s sights with other Salzburg highlights and nearby attractions such as beautiful Hallstatt and the Salzwelten salt mine. Private half-day and full-day tours are also available.
The child actors who played the von Trapp children have fond memories of filming in Salzburg. They have returned to the city many times, including for the film’s 50th and 60th anniversaries. The most recent reunion was the 60th anniversary gala, held in October 2025 at the Felsenreitschule.
Nicholas Hammond (who played Friedrich), Duane Chase (Kurt), Debbie Turner (Marta), Angela Cartwright (Brigitta) and Kym Karath (Gretl) were all present. The late Charmian Carr, who played Liesl, and Heather Menzies, who played Louisa, were remembered by all.
Kristina von Trapp and Elisabeth von Trapp, the daughter of Werner, were also at the gala, their lives intrinsically intertwined with the movie. Elisabeth, like many of the grandchildren, sings with the voice of an angel. Given her genes, that is no surprise.
A new home in America
The von Trapp story doesn’t end in Salzburg. It continues half a world away in the rolling green hills of Vermont, in the New England region of the United States.
“They settled in Philadelphia when they first fled Austria and were there from 1938 until 1942,” Kristina von Trapp says.
The von Trapp story doesn’t end in Salzburg. It continues half a world away in the rolling green hills of Vermont.
“Then they bought these two working dairy farms on this beautiful hillside in Vermont that we’re on right now. They chose this site because it reminded them of Austria.
“The geography in Vermont is spectacular. We don’t quite have the high alps, but the landscape is amazing.”
Kristina says her grandparents loved the people of Vermont.
“Vermonters were really hard-working and connected to the land and that resonated with them,” she says.
The family built an Austrian-style lodge that Maria described as “a little bit of Austria and a lot of Vermont”. The focus was always on how things would be done in Austria and whether that could work in Vermont. The answer was a resounding yes.
The Trapp Family Lodge and Resort has grown from the original 260 hectares to more than 1,000 hectares. It is the second biggest employer in Vermont, with 96 rooms in the lodge, 100 timeshare units and 46 villas. It is also home to the world’s first commercial cross-country ski resort, established by Johannes in 1968.
The motto for the lodge is: ‘Come for our story and leave with your own.’
In warmer months, hiking trails wind through mountain meadows. There is also an award-winning brewery, founded by Johannes, that focuses on Austrian-style lagers. The walls of the lodge are lined with family memorabilia. Visitors can take a history tour of the lodge and pay their respects to Georg and Maria, as well as other family members, in the serene family cemetery on-site.
The motto for the lodge is: ‘Come for our story and leave with your own.’
The whole story
The von Trapp family story will once again be in the spotlight with the opening of The Sound of Music Museum in 2026. The museum is located on the grounds of beautiful Hellbrunn Palace, known for its trick fountains. It will be housed in the old coach house, the hunters’ lodge and the zookeepers’ lodge, all of which have been renovated for the museum.
The former coach house will focus on the film. The hunters’ lodge will explore the real history of the von Trapp family. Visitor reception and a small shop will be located in the zookeepers’ lodge. The iconic gazebo used in the movie, most famous for the song ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen’, is alongside.
The museum will offer new insights into the cultural phenomenon of a movie loved by people in every corner of the world and will explore how The Sound of Music became so successful and why six decades after the film first swept across cinema screens, the hills – from Salzburg to Vermont – are still alive with the story of the von Trapps.
