Page 19 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 1 Fall 2012

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grass-fed beef or controlling the spread of the pine
beetle and mix those with answering questions about
Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.”
Still, the von Trapps understand that The Sound of
Music, a fictionalized version of events, is part of what
attracts guests to the lodge. Three years ago, in an
attempt to satisfy day visitors, Sam launched family-
history tours. “They are a way to accommodate the
person who has driven all the way from Newark to see
Maria’s grave, without disturbing the serenity of our
guests,” he explains, adding that he personally leads as
many as four weekly tours. “It has actually brought our
family closer to The Sound of Music story by seeing how
much it means to people.”
The tour tells the real story of the von Trapps. Unlike
the stage and movie versions, Maria was not a governess
but a tutor to a sick von Trapp daughter. The Baron had
already instilled a love of music in his children before
Maria arrived on the scene, and the von Trapps traveled
regularly to perform, including a stop in America, at which
time they requested asylum. There was no crossing over
the hills of Austria into neutral Switzerland. And the
nuns at the abbey did not remove the spark plugs from
the Nazi vehicles, von Trapp adds.
“While we are a full resort with an unbelievable num-
ber of offerings, at the end of the day we’re always going
to also be the resort that was created by the family who
inspired The Sound of Music,” he acknowledges. “That’s
always going to be a part of it. It’s an opportunity for us
to educate people about the real story and also a great
way for us to come to grips with it.”
Von Trapp gets emotional talking about the 1980 fire
that destroyed the original lodge. “It only really sunk in
for me when I saw the emotional impact on my aunts
and uncles,” he explains. He also gets a bit choked up
when he speaks of two of his uncles returning to Austria
in 1943 to help liberate the country from the Nazi occu-
pation that the Baron and Maria resisted – a truth the
Rodgers and Hammerstein version depicts. He says his
grandmother would have enjoyed that her story is still
inspiring people to make different choices in their lives
(though she would not have looked favorably upon the
individual who recently pilfered flowers from her grave).
Not long ago, a gentleman told von Trapp’s sister, Kristina,
that he had fled oppressive conditions in Peru because
of the von Trapps’ inspiration.
While the intentional references to The Sound of
Music are limited, family photos adorn the walls of the
lodge: Johanna and Martina Haying, circa 1947; Maple
Sugaring, 1943 (the lodge’s springtime maple-sugaring
operation still thrives today); Father Franz Wasner
directing a rehearsal of the Trapp Family Singers;
On Tour, San Francisco, 1946. “But those are all family
photos – photos of the real family,” von Trapp says,
noting that only one hallway – the second floor of the
Main Lodge – is dedicated to The Sound of Music version
of events. There, posters from various productions of
the fictional von Trapps line the walls – iterations in
Japanese, French, German. One of the last holdouts of
The Sound of Music phenomenon was Salzburg, Austria,
whose citizens resented the film’s interpretation of the
annexed German territory as dominantly Nazi. But even
Salzburg came around. Sam and several other von Trapps
attended the city’s premiere of the play in October 2011,
holding hands on stage with the cast at the curtain call.
Sam, who happened to be clasping the hand of the
Austrian production’s Maria, noted the emotion of the
evening. “She had tears running down her face,” he says.
“Our ties with Austria are very strong.”
Time has revealed the blessing of his family history,
including the opportunity for von Trapp to carry on and
expand his grandparents’ business. But he is also quick
to deflect too much praise for the von Trapp clan.
“I always try to remind people to look at their own
family history because almost everyone has a story,” von
Trapp adds. “If Rodgers and Hammerstein were to write
the soundtrack to your family story, chances are it would
be a huge hit. Our family really isn’t that different. I am
proud of my family, but a lot of other families sacrificed
more than we did. In reality our family really isn’t that
special; our story just happens to have been told.”
Sam with his father, Johannes (photo courtesy Trapp Family Lodge)