Notes on the Trapp Family in Austria

This study examines the real Trapp family in Austria until 1939. Using scores of contemporaneous sources, this fully referenced book introduces Maria (von) Trapp's own, hitherto unknown, family: the Kutscheras, the Reiners (Rainers), and her foster family, the Kramers. Moreover, the first chapter critically analyzes Maria's tales about her childhood and youth up to her wedding with Georg (von) Trapp in 1927. The second chapter covers Georg, his family, his activities in war and business, as weil as the family choir started in 1934. Several misconceptions, from Georg having been a baron to his alleged anti-fascism, get corrected here, too. The third chapter overturns the central myth of the Trapp family story: there is no evidence that the Trapps ever received offers from the Nazis, or resisted them; on the contrary, Georg unsuccessfully tried to solicit business in Germany. Nor were the Trapps in danger of persecution, or "escaped" from Austria. Filled with details as well as context - and based on a very broad range of sources and literature - these three "notes" present a history of the Trapp family different from and much more reliable than anything available up to now, including the family members' memoirs. (But please note that this book is not about the adaptations of the family's stories, such as "The Sound of Music", nor does it contain illustrations.)