The Real von Trapp Family: The True Story Behind The Sound of Music

In the film, Maria and Georg von Trapp marry shortly before their escape in 1938. In reality they said “I do” on 26 November 1927, in the church of Nonnberg Abbey (Stift Nonnberg), high above Salzburg’s Old Town. Here is the real story of the von Trapp family, what the film changes and what you can see of it in Salzburg in winter.

Who were the von Trapp family? The von Trapp family were a Salzburg family who performed as a choir from the 1930s and left Austria in 1938. Their story, written down by Maria von Trapp, is the basis for the musical and the 1965 film “The Sound of Music”.

How to get to our Salzburg Christmas market at Mirabellplatz (Mirabell Square) in Advent is further down.

Is The Sound of Music a true story?

Partly. The von Trapp family, Maria as a tutor in a house full of children, the family choir and the farewell to Austria in 1938 are all real. A lot of the rest the film condensed or changed. It was based on Maria’s book “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers”, published in the USA in 1949 (German edition 1952: “Die Trapp-Familie. Vom Kloster zum Welterfolg”).

As early as 1956 there was a German-language film, “Die Trapp-Familie” (“The Trapp Family”). But the story only became world-famous through the Broadway musical and the 1965 Hollywood film.

The Sound of Music vs real life: six differences

1. The children: Georg von Trapp had seven children from his first marriage; his first wife, Agathe, died in 1922. He and Maria had three more, and the youngest son, Johannes, was born in the USA in 1939.
2. Maria in the house: in the mid-1920s Maria came to the family from Nonnberg Abbey as a tutor for the daughter Maria, who was ill, not as a governess for all the children at once (according to the U.S. National Archives and the Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon).
3. The wedding: Maria and Georg married on 26 November 1927 in the abbey church at Nonnberg, so a good ten years before they left Austria, not shortly before.
4. The money: in the early 1930s the family lost a large part of its fortune when its bank collapsed (in 1934, according to Salzburg Tourismus). That is one of the reasons they later performed in public.
5. The music: from the mid-1930s the choir was directed by the priest Franz Wasner. He doesn’t appear in the film; in his place is the invented character Max Detweiler.
6. The escape: in 1938 the family didn’t walk over the mountains, they took the train to Italy. From there they travelled on to the USA, where they became known as the Trapp Family Singers.

In 1950 the choir came back to the city once more, for a performance at the Salzburg Festival.

Nonnberg Abbey: where Maria was a postulant and got married

Nonnberg Abbey appears in the film and is also a place in the real story. In 1924 Maria entered the Benedictine convent as a postulant, that is, a candidate for life in a religious order, and in 1927 she married Georg von Trapp in the abbey church.

You can’t visit the convent itself, but you can visit the church. According to Salzburg Tourismus it’s open daily from 6.45 am until dusk, but not for sightseeing during services (as of 28 October 2026). In winter it gets dark early, so plan your visit for the afternoon. From Mirabellplatz it’s about a 20-minute walk, through the Old Town and up the Nonnberg hill.

Villa Trapp in Aigen: what you can see in 2026

You can’t visit Villa Trapp in 2026: according to SalzburgerLand Tourismus there is currently no hotel there and there are no tours (as of 28 October 2026). The family lived in the villa in the Aigen district from 1923. From 2008 to 2021 it was a hotel with tours. Since 2022 the religious order that owns the house has been using the villa itself again, as “Haus Magnificat”. Some booking sites still list the von Trapp house as a hotel; that information is out of date.

Von Trapp sites and filming locations in Advent

Place	Real story or film?	In winter
Nonnberg Abbey	both	church open, daily until dusk according to Salzburg Tourismus
Villa Trapp, Aigen	real story	no tours (as of 2026)
Mirabell Gardens (Mirabellgarten) with the Do-Re-Mi steps	film only	freely accessible
Schloss Leopoldskron	film only	hotel, view from outside

What you’ll see in Mirabell Gardens in winter is in our article on Mirabell Gardens in winter. All the filming locations and the Sound of Music museum are in The Sound of Music in Salzburg in winter, and the bus tours from Mirabellplatz in Sound of Music tour in December.

A December afternoon: from Mirabellplatz to Nonnberg and back

From Mirabellplatz you walk through Mirabell Gardens, across the Salzach and through the Old Town up to Nonnberg, about 20 minutes. After the abbey church, take the same way back, and as it gets dark you’ll be back with us at the market. Here at the market, on many days in Advent, Advent music plays in front of the palace at 5.15 pm; the dates are on our programme page.

How the von Trapp family sang at Christmas is in Christmas with the von Trapp family.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Retrieved on 28 October 2026: Salzburg Tourismus, press text “Chronology” on the von Trapp family and entry on Stift Nonnberg · SalzburgerLand Tourismus, “Sound of Music: die wahre Geschichte der Familie Trapp” and “Willkommen in der Villa Trapp” · Archdiocese of Salzburg (eds.at), Villa Trapp (2 June 2022) · U.S. National Archives, Prologue Magazine (Winter 2005), “Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the von Trapp Family” · Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online, “Trapp, Familie” · Maria Augusta Trapp: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Lippincott 1949