The city of Salzburg, Austria, is famous for its music. The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived there in the 1700s. In the 1960s, moviemakers filmed a classic movie musical there—The Sound of Music. Now the movie is getting its very own Salzburg museum.
The film is based on a true story of an Austrian family. The von Trapps opposed the Nazis during World War II. Do you know any of the songs from the musical? Some of the most famous are “Edelweiss,” “Do-Re-Mi,” and “My Favorite Things.” People around the world love these songs.
The Sound of Music Salzburg museum opened Sunday. Elisabeth von Trapp attended the opening. She is the granddaughter of Georg and Agathe von Trapp. They were the parents of the family that inspired the movie characters.
Elisabeth von Trapp gives guided tours of movie sites in Salzburg. Of course, she includes locations from The Sound of Music.
The museum has “a beautiful sense of the storyline of both The Sound of Music and the Trapp Family Singers—my relatives,” she says. “I’m very proud of that.”
The movie changes several things from the real story. For example: Elisabeth’s father, Werner, was one of the original Trapp Family Singers. If you’ve seen the movie, you would know him by another name. “My father is depicted in the movie as Kurt,” Elisabeth says. “His name was Werner von Trapp. Just to set the record straight.”
Visitors will find the museum in the 17th-century Hellbrunn Palace. Many scenes from the film were shot there. Tourists can see props and costumes from the film. Movie posters and the gazebo where the character Liesl sang “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” are also there.
The film came out on March 2, 1965. It won five Academy Awards. Fans of the film have flocked to Salzburg for decades. Several hundred thousand visit the city each year. Now they have a new stop to make—a museum that celebrates the movie and the real von Trapp story.
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. — Deuteronomy 32:7
Recommended Reading: For more about the real Trapp Family Singers, read The World of the Trapp Family by William Anderson.
