The Von Trapp family escaped in broad daylight by boarding a train to Italy. The real story of their bolt for freedom is far less dramatic than in the movie.
The majority of film adaptations of real-life events and people add some spices to make things work, so was in the Von Trapp family’s biographical film ‘The Sound of Music.‘ From creating the dramatic departure of the family from Austria to creating their own geography for the film, the crew tried everything for a drama.
The film not just lacks historical accuracy like the time frame of the family dynamics, but also the personality of the family members. The film portrays Georg, father of the Von Trapp family as a cold, distant patriarch but in reality, he was the opposite of what the film claims according to History.
With so much inaccuracy in the making of the film, adding some dramatic effects to the fleeing scene of the Von Trapp family is not uncommon. However, distorting reality with the added drama might be a bit excessive but here is how the Von Trapp family did it in real life.
How Did The Real Von Trapp Family Escape?
In real life, the Von Trapp family just had to get on a train to Italy to escape from Nazies.
Although the film depicts the family fleeing Austria at night, the film adds spice by showing the family crossing the surrounding mountains and struggling to get into neutral Switzerland. However, the narrative has several flaws.
According to History, nothing of such events took place while the family escaped the Nazi rule. They simply got out of the rear gate of their villa, crossed the railway that ran close to the gate, got to the other side of the railroad, and finally boarded a train to Italy.
The family achieved everything in the broad daylight but disguised themself as the Von Trapp family going for a vacation in Italy rather than fleeing the Nazi rule. However, they did have a bit of drama in their escape as well. They managed to cross the border at the perfect time because the Austrian border got sealed the very next day of their escape according to History.
However, according to Archive, The Von Trapp family escaped Austria not only as a family going on a vacation to Italy but also as a family musical troupe on their tour. They initially toured Italy, and later went to London. After a few months, the family was on a ship to the United States of America, on a 6 months visa to tour different parts of the country.
Despite traveling as a musical group, the driving force behind them leaving Austria was the growing Nazi influence. Georg von Trapp was offered a command position in Nazi Navy but he declined the position and refused to fly the Nazi flag at his Villa. Furthermore, he also declined to perform at Hitler’s birthday party and decided to leave everything and travel far with his principal and family intact.
In course of traveling far, they settled in United States of America after initially visiting the country for a musical tour and later returning to stay.
Where Are The Real Von Trapp Family Now?
The Real Von Trapp family is now living in the United States of America.
However, only one of the original family is alive as of 2022 but their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren remain to carry the legacy of the family.
All the members who were shown in the film have passed away according to the family’s Wikipedia article, the only remaining child of George and Maria is Johannes von Trapp, he was born in the United State of America. Maria was pregnant with Johannes when they fled Europe to come to America.
The family continued to perform until 1957 but disbanded after two of the family members passed away. After discontinuing their band, Maria with Johannes, Rosemarie, and Maria Franziska traveled to New Guinea to perform missionary work. However, she later returned to Vermont, United States of America, where the family ran a lodge that is still in operation as of 2022.
Great-grandchildren of George from his son Werner von Trapp formed a band named The von Trapps. The band included four members Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and August von Trapp and they recorded 5 studio albums in modern style between 2001 to 2016. They disbanded in 2016.
Sam von Trapp, the son of Maria and George’s only living son Johannes von Trapp, is still living in Stowe, Vermont, where he manages Trapp Family Lodge. The lodge has been in continuous operation since 1947, initially started as an extended family home which has now turned into a 10 square kilometers ski lodge.
Von Trapp Family True Story on Movie
The Von Trapp family’s story has been mostly fictionalized in the biographical movie ‘The Sound Of Music.’
Inaccuracies in the film are all over the place according to History. From geographical inaccuracies to the personality of the family members, the film has got most of the parts wrong. In fact, Maria von Trapp was outraged after seeing the inaccuracies in the film according to History.
First things first, the principal character of the film George von Trapp was not at all cold and distant from his family as portrayed in the film. Furthermore, the film shows George not wanting his family to perform on the stage, which was true but for not the same reasons as depicted in the film.
Maria Augusta von Trapp was appointed as a tutor for George’s daughter Maria Franziska, not to govern all of his children as depicted in the film. In fact, the film got the number of members wrong, George had 10 children in total. Maria and George got married 11 years before traveling to the United States of America, not a few months ago as shown in the film.
The film was based on Maria’s book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers published in 1949, however, several facts were omitted and changed to suit the screens more leading to a plethora of inaccuracies and fiction.