The real story of the von Trapp family singers

At 86 years old, Johannes von Trapp is the last surviving child of Captain Georg von Trapp and his wife Maria whose story was turned into The Sound of Music, about a trainee nun who became a governess and then mother to the von Trapp children. Sixty years after its release, Johannes tells us the extraordinary true story; from his mother's initial reluctance to marry Captain von Trapp, to the family having to flee the Nazi occupation of their home in Austria, leaving behind a wealthy lifestyle before eventually arriving in New York in 1938 with very little money. With a total of ten children - seven of them from Georg's first marriage - the family settled in Vermont and toured the world as the Trapp Family Singers. Johannes remembers a home filled with music and joy, a mother who was a force of nature, and a father who was warm and loving - although he did use a whistle to gather together his children! In 1942 the family bought what would become the Trapp Family Lodge, a resort hotel in Stowe, Vermont. Johannes ran the hotel for decades before stepping down earlier this year.

Film archive: The Sound of Music/Robert Wise Productions & Argyle Enterprises/Robert Wise

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: June Christie

Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Black and white photo of the von Trapp family at Christmas in 1943 - Johannes is just a young boy at the front and centre of the photo with eight of his siblings, and Captain von Trapp is to the right of the photo. Credit: von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort)