During some of the morning scattered showers yesterday, we visited the Sound of Music museum. Yep, there’s even a museum. It separates the facts and fictions of the true story and the film as well as gives some insights into the filming process.
Maria did in fact live at the Abbey and her non-conventional ways were a bit of a struggle for the sisters, I mean, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” But, she was a teacher, not a young nun. She was hired to be a tutor for one of the Von Trapps who was in poor health due to lasting effects of scarlet fever. The family was wealthy as the Captain’s first wife was the granddaughter of the man who had invented the torpedo. The true Captain was very different than the one Christopher Plummer portrayed. He was a loving and affectionate father, highly involved in the day to day happenings of each of his children. He did have a whistle with different calls for each child, but it was because of the large estate, and he didn’t want to shout.
Maria did bring music into the house, and the children loved her. Perhaps not quite the love affair portrayed in the film, as there was a huge age difference between Maria and the Captain, and while there was love there, it sounds like it was first, more of a marriage of conveince as the children were happy with her, and the Captain wanted a suitable mother. The role of the Baronesse was a Hollywood addition because at the time, the actress who played her was a much bigger name than anyone else in the film, and they needed her stardom.
A friend of the family, a preacher, was visiting the house one day when he heard the children singing. Taken aback by the talent, he and Maria worked together to train and perfect the young singing voices. The Captain never really approved of the children singing for money, but because of several unfortunate economic crises, the family had little other choices.
The timing was also a bit different. In real life, Maria married the Captain in the late 1920s, and they had two (and one on the way) more children before fleeing the country. They left the country in the late 1930s before WWII was in full swing. They had been invited to sing in America, and since they were fearful after refusing Hitler’s invitation to sing for him, they took it as an opportunity to flee. It was quoted that the family members screeched with laughter at the final scene of the film saying, “Don’t people know their geography!” The mountains around Salzburg lead into Germany. Yep, Germany, the very place the family was running from. In actuality, in far less dramatic ways, the family walked to the local train station and set off from there. After moving around and touring, the family finally settled in Stowe, Vermont (Jessica and I visited there last year!), which is very understandable as the scenery is similar.
We boarded a huge tour bus this morning, packed with fellow enthusiasts to see some of the beautiful sites where the filming took place. In true Hollywood fashion, the Von Trapp house was actually in multiple locations. We drove past the home that acted as the front of the house with the yellow walls and tall gate that intimidated Maria. It was also here that Maria and the Captain pulled in when returning from their honey moon. A Nazi flag had been hung on the front of the house. Do you remember the scene? Do you remember Christopher Plummer ripping the flag? Watch again. Turns out, it is difficult to tear a flag in half, so the props crew had already put a tear in the flag for him to use. Notice him looking for the tear now?
Thankfully, we stopped at the end of the path where Maria got off the bus, full of confidence, and so, of course, I had to do some reenacting.
The gazebo, a favorite for all us wanting to pretend to be 16 again, is not exactly as you’d expect. The shots from inside the gazebo, with all of the dancing were filmed in a studio with a much enlarged gazebo, making it more difficult for Liesl to prance about. Turns out that she missed one of the benches, sprang her ankle, and they taped it up and continued shooting. The real gazebo was on private property, but too many people kept trespassing, so it was moved to a more public location. But, years ago, an older woman, pretending to be 16 and prancing from bench to bench fell and broke her hip. The gazebo is now locked up and we can only gaze on it from outside.
The beautiful lake that set the scene for the back of the house was next on our list. Oddly enough, you never see the back of this house in the film because it is white, not yellow, but Hollywood directors still managed to find ways to use the lake, dock and back patio to make it look like the two were the same. Remember the scene where Maria and the kids are in the boat, but are so excited to see the Captain, they all fall out of the boat? Well, that scene was a lot more difficult than the carefree scene it portrays. Turns out, the little actress playing Gretl couldn’t swim. The plan was for Julie Andrews to grab onto her and hold her so she wouldn’t be scared. First take worked just as planned, but of course the directors wanted one more. Despite chilly waters, the cast got back out on the boat, but Julie lost her balance and fell backwards, in a different direction from little Gretl. Thankfully, divers were underneath the boat, but it gave the young actress quite a fright. So much so that she wanted to quit. Her parents begged and pleaded with her, and as with most parents, persuaded her with whatever sweets she wanted to continue filming. Well... the filming that was supposed to take four weeks took eleven, and so by the end of that time and all that bribing, little Gretl was, well, not so little any more. Christopher Plummer even refused to carry her up the mountain, so when watching that final scene again, notice that you don’t see Gretl’s face as it was just a stand in (who weighed less). Side note... Christopher Plummer cannot and did not sing in the film.
Our tour bus drove out of the city through the stunning countryside, some of which was shown in the opening credits of the film all while listening and singing to the soundtrack. Thankfully, and not surprisingly, much of the bus joined in with the sing along, led by our adorable guide in her Austrian hat with attached pigtails along with her stuffed goat.
Just in case you get the chance to meet an Austrian, don’t start singing “Edilweiss” to them. It is not their anthem. But it is a beloved flower that grows only high up in the mountains. It used to be that men proved their love by climbing mountains the pick an edilweiss for their sweet heart. Sadly today that will cost you a fine as the flowers are now protected. No real romance left in the world, I guess.
Maria and the Captain actually got married at the church at the Abbey, and although the nuns were going to allow filming there, the director decided to go with a stunning church nearby, lovingly nicknamed the “pink church.” I was also beyond thrilled to find my own stuffed goat at the gift shop next to the church. We had scoured Salzburg looking for something like the puppets used in “The Lonely Goatherder” to no avail. This place is the only one around to carry them! Jessica and I are excited that Lisel and Gretl will be joining us on the rest of our road trip.
The last stop was the famous Mirabell Gardens where most of the clips during “Do Re Mi” were filmed including fountains, the “musical steps,” runways covered in vines and this lovely gnome who was patted on the head when the kids passed by.
All of the indoor scenes were filmed in a studio in California, including the cemetery scene where the family hid behind grave markers, but that graveyard was inspired by one in town, so we made sure to stop by and see it.
The theater were the Von Trapps performed in the film is also in Salzburg, but it is only open for set tours a couple of times a day, so I’m afraid our timing was not right and we missed those.
Our Sound of Music scouting was almost complete, minus one final climb. “Climb Every Mountain,” right? Well, no, although we could have climbed the mountain where the family was seen escaping at the end, but we climbed to the fortress atop Salzburg. It does not play a role in the film, but it is scene in shots of Salzburg, and so, we decided while there, might as well go see it. It was a massive fortress that had housed people for hundreds of years, growing frequently to even larger capacity. In the fortress, there were towers to climb, chapels to see and even some green spaces with small soccer goals.
Our intention for climbing atop the city was still Sound of Music inspired, though, not just for the fort. Do you remember the scene, just after Maria had taught the children do, re, mi while on a picnic? She was explaining how to replace these sounds with words to make songs. The scene started with the eight of them next to a short stone wall overlooking the city.
Sadly, we couldn’t reenact the carriage scene where each child represents a different note... we needed more people to make that one work... I guess I will need to “ford every stream, follow every rainbow” to make that dream come true!
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