More Americans than ever are visiting Austria—overnight stays rose more than 14 percent last year—and while the alpine nation’s mountains, winter sports, historic cities like Vienna and the genius of Mozart are all big enticements to tourists, a surprising number come primarily to bathe in the cinematic glow of a 60-year-old movie whose lead actor once said watching the film was “like being beaten to death with a Hallmark card.”
The movie, of course, is The Sound of Music, the Rogers & Hammerstein musical based on the experiences of the actual Von Trapp family singers. Debuting in 1965, the film co-stars Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp and Julie Andrews as the nun-turned-nanny to his seven children; the plot explores her bonding with the kids as well as the budding May-December romance between the Captain and Maria against the backdrop of rising Nazism, climaxing with the family’s escape from Austria to the United States in 1938.
It’s a smarmy but poignant mix, and there’s no denying the movie’s enduring appeal across the years, from the five Academy Awards bestowed upon the film, to box office records set in 29 countries, and the buses that still disgorge tourists looking to “Climb Every Mountain” trodden by the stars of the movie, which was filmed on location in Salzburg.
Curtseying to the fact that more Americans are looking for a few of their favorite Sound of Music things than come to celebrate Mozart in his hometown, the city has rolled out a year-long celebration of the movie’s diamond anniversary. A new (and free) narrated audio tour now accentuates The Sound of Music Trail, a 1-3/4-mile path to the Gschwandtanger Wiesn picnic plateau, where Maria taught the Von Trapp children to sing “Do-Re-Mi’; the tour is narrated by actor Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich in the film.
Another new self-guided tour on Salzburg’s SmartGuide app leads visitors to various movie locations throughout the historic city, founded in the eighth century along the banks of the Salzach River and drawing its name from its prominent role in the salt trade. Located on both sides of the river, film locations include the Residenzplatz Square and fountain, where Maria sings, “I Have Confidence”; the Nonnberg Abbey, where the real-life Maria was a novice before being sent to tend to the Von Trapp children; and the Felsenreitschule, or Summer Riding School, where the film family held a concert performance as cover for their flight from the Nazi Anschluss.
The UNESCO-honored Salzburg Marionette Theatre, opened in 1913, offers 90-minute puppetry performances of The Sound of Music, while the Salzburg State Theater is planning movie-themed performances in the Leopoldskron castle this summer and fall. The celebration peaks in October, when the anniversary of the film’s release will be marked with a symposium, fundraising dinner and a gala at the Felsenreitschule attended by stars of the film and members of the Von Trapp family, who still sing publicly as well as running the Austrian-themed Trapp Family Lodge in the home where the family settled after arriving in America.
When it’s time to say “So Long, Farewell” to all things Trapp, be sure to advise clients to spend a few days exploring the narrow, baroque streets of Salzburg, including Mozart’s birthplace on Getreidegasse, the unmissable Hohensalzburg Fortress looming over the city from the Festungsberg mountain, the ancient (and spooky) St Peter’s Abbey and coffee and strudel at Cafe Tomaselli, which hasn’t changed much since Mozart took breaks from composing to drink almond milk here. Austria’s efficient OBB high-speed rail network also makes it easy to explore the country; from Salzburg, clients can day-trip by train to destinations as diverse as Vienna, Innsbruck, Munich and the lakeside Alpine town of Zell am See in three hours or less.
