Despite Austrians shunning The Sound of Music, a tourist trail in its honour covering sweeping mountain views and historic Salzburg, is proving a smash hit for UK and US visitors.
By Linda Aitchison
Having climbed to an Alpine pasture and broken into a chorus of ‘Do re mi’ I’m wondering if this is really happening. I’ve even been awarded a medal. It all seems a little bizarre but I’m loving the clean mountain air.
I grip my medal emblazoned with ‘Sound of Music trail’ proudly and don’t take it off for the rest of the day. So that ascent to the Gschwandtanger meadow I mentioned? It’s under a mile, and has six stops on the way, but we won’t dwell on that.
My path starts in Werfen, Pongau, on a film- inspired trail that was opened in 2015. It’s such a breathtaking spot, forever associated with Julie Andrews and her enduring earworm about musical notes. The picnic scene was also filmed here.
As soon as I’ve relaxed a little I’m jolted from my reverie of yodelling and lonely goatherds to join a group of fellow travellers, grabbing each others’ hands and hurtling towards a fixed camera. Our aim is to reproduce a famous scene from the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein film – as Maria and the Von Trapp children frolic in an unspoilt meadow.
We may not look much like a 1940s performing troupe of angelic siblings but our backdrop is just as stunning as I’ve seen it on the big screen. I’m exploring days after a Sound of Music themed Life Ball in Vienna. It was celebrating its 25th anniversary with a flamboyant gala of music, dance and exuberance as the annual Aids fundraiser got under way.
Later I visit Lake Zell am See where the real Von Trapp family lived. After a boat trip I swim with my companions. It’s a gorgeous experience and one the Salzburgerland tourist organisation banks on visitors relishing each year.
But while hundreds of thousands of overseas tourists flock to this dedicated trail, it’s not as appealing for domestic sightseers. The breathtaking scenery in itself may be a draw, but the film hasn’t proved popular.
You could say it has been taboo.
Not even smashing as the third biggest film at the box office of all-time has found a place in Austria’s heart for The Sound of Music.
The film was a flop in Germany and Austria when it premiered and neither country has warmed to it.
While for some, the plot culminates in an all-too-innocent and unrealistic film industry happy ending, its story of a family fleeing from the Nazis in 1938 is not one many Austrians want to remember.
These days the collective locations are marketed as ‘not just for fans of the film’. They’re beautiful enough for Austrians without an added complication.
There’s also another big reason to visit. Salzburg and the surrounding area attracts more home-grown tourists for its Mozart heritage as the composer was born there.
Tours of locations made famous by the film have been running for many years – even if the locals have never even heard of it.
Mine includes Schloss Leopoldskron, Mirabelle Gardens and Mondsee where the film’s wedding took place.
But did you know Christopher Plummer referred to Julie Andrews as “insufferable” or “Ms Disney” throughout? He later apologised and called her a true professional.
The gazebo at Hellbrun Palace was recreated by Hollywood experts for I am 16, going on 17.
But what of the real history away from that created for the cinema?
For me, learning snippets about the actual Von Trapp family rather than a fictional brood is one of the most interesting aspects of my five-day trip.
The real Maria, Maria Kutschera was studying to be a nun in the city when she was sent to be a governess for widowed naval captain Georg von Trap.
They fell in love and married. He was 47 and she was 22, and had three children of their own.
In 1935, they formed a touring family choir and three years later, after the Nazis annexed Austria, they escaped.
They did not, of course, flee over the mountains.
Had they trekked the mountain path as recounted by scriptwriters, they would have found themselves near Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Bavaria, and not in Switzerland. Instead, they boarded a train in Italy bound for America.
Capt Von Trapp died just two years after the war ended. Two years after that, Maria’s autobiography became a best-seller.
She sold the rights to a German film company in the mid-1950s for $9,000.
Later, she made little money from the Rodgers and Hammerstein version. Maria died in 1987, aged 82.
So there’s much more to a real Sound of Music history than meets the eye.
Effervescent British tour guide Trudy Rollo leads a whirlwind tour of Mirabelle Gardens singing as we go. I’m a little reticent and people are staring but it’s hard not to succumb to her infectious enthusiasm — even if she does insist on bursting into song without warning!
She also shares more interesting truths about time spent filming the Sound of Music and the worry it caused the director that a Nazi presence was due to be recreated 25 years after the war. At one point it was suggested actual newsreel footage could be used. But there was a swift change of heart when it was realised this would mean showing how the Nazis were welcomed to Salzburg.
Hotel Sacher, which is my base for this part of the trail, embodies elegance and luxury with impeccable service and decor. It belongs to the Leading Hotels of the World group and it’s easy to see why. Dainty miniature Sacher chocolate tortes are left in the room after turn-down and cocktails are plentiful.
A wall of famous faces shows who else has stayed here – the Queen, Dalai Lama, John F Kennedy, John Lennon and Yoko Ono among them.
Trudy also takes my party to the Mozartsteg bridge, overlooked by an imposing fortress and to the Horse Riding School where scenes of the family singing Edelweiß before running away were filmed. This by the way is another bone of contention for Austrian audiences – that too many film lovers have assumed this simple ditty about a little white flower to be a much more important anthem than it actually is.
A classy lunch is savoured at the stylish St Peter’s Stifskulinarium (stpeter.at/en) This is described as the oldest restaurant in Europe.
Next on the Sound of Music itinerary is the plush Schloss Leopoldskron, known as the family home in the film. It was here that children fell into the lake. It’s fair to say not everything went to plan.
During this scene, Kym Karath who played Gretl, couldn’t swim. She was rescued by the son of an assistant director.
Earlier, as Maria runs through the courtyard to the Von Trapp house in I Have Confidence, she falls over by accident. Director Robert Wise liked it so much he kept it in the film.
As I complete my tour with the Sound of Music at its centre, I’m fascinated by the contrast of such enthusiasm from the UK and US – and muted interest from Austrians themselves.
But whatever your reason for visiting this breathtaking area, I guess it will become one of your favourite things.
Find out more
Salzburgerland (salzburgerland.com)
Salzburg (salzburg.info)
Life Ball (lifeplus.org)
Getting about
A four-hour Sound of Music Tour costs from €45 per person with Panorama Tours (panoramatours.com).
The Salzburg Card (€25, €33, €38 per adult for 24, 48 and 72 hours respectively; 50 per cent discount for children) means free use of public transport and discounted or free entry to most major city attractions (salzburg.info).
Stay
Hotel Sacher (sacher.com) double rooms from €175 per person (two sharing room only; breakfast is €35pp)
Schloss Leopoldskron (schloss-leopoldskron.com) A two-night package is available from €405 per night (two sharing room only including a one-hour tour and 24-hour Salzburg card).
Eat
M32 (m32.at) excellent contemporary restaurant with city panorama — one-course lunch from €16 per person.
St Peter’s Stifskulinarium (stpeter.at/en) table d’hote meals from €39 per person.
See and enjoy
Hellbrun Palace (hellbrunn.at/en) Trick fountains (operating in July and August) are €12.50 per person. Get surprised and soaked!
Zell am See (zellamsee-kaprun.com) Forty-five-minute boat tours of Lake Zell on the MS Schmittenhöhe (schmitten.at/en/shipping) from €15 per person.