The Sound of Music movie is based on a real family – but many details differ. Our guides tell both stories, because the true one is just as fascinating.
Georg von Trapp and his first family
Georg von Trapp (1880–1947) was a decorated submarine commander of the Austro-Hungarian navy. With his first wife, Agathe Whitehead, he had seven children. After Agathe died in 1922, the family moved to a villa in Aigen, a district of Salzburg.
Maria and the family choir
Maria Augusta Kutschera (1905–1987), a novice at Nonnberg Abbey, came to the family in 1926 as a tutor for one of the daughters. She and Georg married in 1927 at Nonnberg and had three more children. In the economic crisis of the 1930s the family turned their love of music into a profession: as the Trapp Family Choir they performed at the Salzburg Festival in 1936 and toured Europe.
Leaving Austria in 1938
After the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, the family left Austria – not over the mountains as in the movie, but by train to Italy – and later settled in Stowe, Vermont, in the USA, where the Trapp Family Lodge still welcomes guests today.
From book to movie
Maria published her memoir in 1949. On our tours we trace together how the story travelled from the book to the stage and finally to the Hollywood movie of 1965, directed by Robert Wise with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer – and you may discover a little Easter egg along the way. The movie won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Yet in Austria it remained little known for decades – one of the surprises our guests often ask about, and we will find out why together on the tour.
The museum about The Sound of Music movie
To go deeper into the family’s story, visit the museum Sound of Music Salzburg (the museum about The Sound of Music movie) in Hellbrunn, a branch of the Salzburg Museum opened in September 2026. Original photos, recordings and video memoirs of Maria von Trapp show the real family next to the musical and the movie. It is open daily from late March to 1 November – see our Hellbrunn page for details.
Visit with Bob’s Special Tours
Our guides have been showing guests the filming locations of The Sound of Music movie since 1976 – with the stories behind the scenes, the real history of the von Trapp family and Salzburg’s culture beyond the movie. Our tours that tell this story:
- Public 4.5h tour to the filming locations
- Private 4.5h tour to the filming locations
- Full-day tour to the filming locations and Hallstatt
- Private full-day tour to the filming locations and Hallstatt
- Public full-day special tour to the filming locations
- Private full-day special tour to the filming locations
- 2.5h walking tour to the filming locations
- Evening 2h walking tour to the filming locations
- Private 4-hour e-bike tour to the filming locations
- Private 6-hour e-bike tour to the filming locations
- Private Do-Re-Mi picnic tour with Werfen Castle
- Private 8h tour: filming locations and the Bavarian Alps
- Private tour from Passau or Linz (for Danube cruise guests)
All filming locations at a glance: The Sound of Music movie filming locations in and around Salzburg.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Sound of Music movie a true story?
It is based on the real von Trapp family from Salzburg, but the movie changes many details, such as the timeline, the characters of the children and the way the family left Austria.
How did the real von Trapp family leave Austria?
By train to Italy in 1938 – not over the mountains.
Where did the von Trapp family live in Salzburg?
In a villa in the Aigen district of Salzburg, which was not used as a filming location. Today it belongs to a Catholic order and is not open to visitors. More on our Leopoldskron page, the garden side of the Trapp villa in the movie.