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 Cinder 
Commodore
Joined: May 15, 2005
Member#: 10213
Posts: 3317
Location: Washington state
    
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 Posted:
Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:20 am Post subject: One of the Von Trapp Family |
 
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We always have chats about the Sound of Music and the kids and how many etc. Here is the obituary of one of them. His character in the movie was Kurt.
Werner Von Trapp
MONTPELIER, Vermont _ Werner von Trapp, a member of the musical family made famous by the Broadway and Hollywood hit musical ''The Sound of Music,'' has died, his family said. He was 91.
Von Trapp died Thursday at his home in Waitsfield. The cause of death was not announced. The family confirmed his death, but declined to comment further.
''The Sound of Music'' was based loosely on a 1949 book by his stepmother, Maria von Trapp, who died in 1987. It tells the story of an Austrian woman who married a widower with seven children and teaches them music.
Born in 1915 in Zell am See, Austria, von Trapp was the fourth child and second son of Captain Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead. In ''The Sound of Music,'' which altered some details of the family's history, Werner von Trapp was depicted by the character named Kurt.
''The Sound of Music,'' the last musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opened on Broadway in 1959 starring Mary Martin in the role of Maria. The 1965 film version starring Julie Andrews won five Oscars and became one of the most popular movies of all time.
During the 1930s, Werner von Trapp studied cello and became proficient on several other instruments. He sang tenor with his family's choir, The Trapp Family Singers, who won great acclaim throughout Europe after their debut in 1935.
In 1938, von Trapp and his family escaped from Nazi-occupied Austria. After they arrived in New York, the family became popular with concert audiences. The family eventually settled in Vermont.
During World War II, von Trapp served in Europe with the U.S. Army.
After the war, von Trapp returned to his family's farm in Stowe and resumed touring with the family choir.
After the Trapp Family Singers retired, von Trapp helped to found a music school in Reading, Pennsylvania, called the Community School of Music.
Several years later he brought his family back to Vermont and eventually settled on a dairy farm in Waitsfield where he farmed with his family until he retired in 1979. He spent the years after his retirement traveling and weaving, spinning, and crocheting.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Erika, and six children. He is also survived by three sisters and one brother.
_________________
A good sound track will let me relive the movie, I can cry over them as well. Hand me the tissues...please. |
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unpoedic
Ensign
Joined: Dec 08, 2003
Member#: 3962
Posts: 35
Location: CR, IA (US)
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Posted:
Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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Fascinating. (Seemingly atypical retirement pursuits, as well, for a male.) I wonder what other von Trapp children remain ["he is also survived by three sisters and one brother"]... |
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JadedTitan
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Oct 20, 2007
Member#: 19134
Posts: 692
Location: Maryland
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Posted:
Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:28 am Post subject: |
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Still an amazing story about the entire family, even if it was a little messed up with the movie. Sad none the less when people as such die...i wonder as well who is still alive.....
_________________
The right song can turn an emperor into a laughing stock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and people in it are dust and dreams are gone. |
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Cinder
Commodore
Joined: May 15, 2005
Member#: 10213
Posts: 3317
Location: Washington state
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Posted:
Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:43 am Post subject: Presenting the Family Von Trapp |
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I enjoy hunting up information. It was mentioned which children were still alive and where are they. I found a few web sites, and some photos. Right now currently, the Great Grand children of Maria and Georg are on tour!!
here is how the real Von Trapps were different than the ones in the Sound of Music.
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Fact from Fiction
While The Sound of Music was generally based on the first section of Maria's book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (published in 1949), there were many alterations and omissions.
* Maria came to the von Trapp family in 1926 as a tutor for one of the children, Maria, who was recovering from scarlet fever, not as governess to all the children.
* Maria and Georg married in 1927, 11 years before the family left Austria, not right before the Nazi takeover of Austria.
* Maria did not marry Georg von Trapp because she was in love with him. As she said in her autobiography Maria, she fell in love with the children at first sight, not their father. When he asked her to marry him, she was not sure if she should abandon her religious calling but was advised by the nuns to do God's will and marry Georg. "I really and truly was not in love. I liked him but didn't love him. However, I loved the children, so in a way I really married the children. . . . [B]y and by I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after." She and Georg were married on November 26,1927,
* There were 10, not 7 von Trapp children.
* The names, ages, and sexes of the children were changed.
* The family was musically inclined before Maria arrived, but she did teach them to sing madrigals.
* Georg, far from being the detached, cold-blooded patriarch of the family who disapproved of music, as portrayed in the first half of The Sound of Music, was actually a gentle, warmhearted parent who enjoyed musical activities with his family. While this change in his character might have made for a better story in emphasizing Maria's healing effect on the von Trapps, it distressed his family greatly.
* The family did not secretly escape over the Alps to freedom in Switzerland, carrying their suitcases and musical instruments. As daughter Maria said in a 2003 interview printed in Opera News, "We did tell people that we were going to America to sing. And we did not climb over mountains with all our heavy suitcases and instruments. We left by train, pretending nothing."
* The von Trapps traveled to Italy, not Switzerland. Georg was born in Zadar (now in Croatia), which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Zadar became part of Italy in 1920, and Georg was thus an Italian citizen, and his wife and children as well. The family had a contract with an American booking agent when they left Austria. They contacted the agent from Italy and requested fare to America.
* Instead of the fictional Max Detweiler, pushy music promoter, the von Trapps' priest, the Reverend Franz Wasner, acted as their musical director for over 20 years.
* Though she was a caring and loving person, Maria wasn't always as sweet as the fictional Maria. She tended to erupt in angry outbursts consisting of yelling, throwing things, and slamming doors. Her feelings would immediately be relieved and good humor restored, while other family members, particularly her husband, found it less easy to recover. In her 2003 interview, the younger Maria confirmed that her stepmother "had a terrible temper. . . . And from one moment to the next, you didn't know what hit her. We were not used to this. But we took it like a thunderstorm that would pass, because the next minute she could be very nice."
*Georg von Trapp, born in 1880, became a national hero as a captain in the Austrian navy during World War I. He commanded submarines with valor and received the title of "Ritter" (the equivalent of the British baronet or "Sir," but commonly translated as "Baron") as a reward for his heroic accomplishments. Georg married Agathe Whitehead, the granddaughter of Robert Whitehead, the inventor of the torpedo, in 1912. They had seven children together: Rupert, Agathe, Maria,Werner,Hedwig, Johanna, and Martina. After World War I, Austria lost all of its seaports, and Georg retired from the navy. His wife died in 1922 of scarlet fever. The family was devastated by her death and unable to bear living in a place where they had been so happy, Georg sold his property in Pola (now Pula, Croatia) and bought an estate in Salzburg.
*Maria Augusta Kutschera was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1905. She was orphaned as a young child and was raised as an atheist and socialist by an abusive relative. While attending the State Teachers' College of Progressive Education in Vienna, she accidentally attended a Palm Sunday service, believing it to be a concert of Bach music, where a priest was speaking. Maria graduated from college, and as a result of her religious awakening, she entered the Benedictine Abbey of Nonnberg in Salzburg as a novice. Georg von Trapp approached the Reverend Mother of the Abbey seeking a teacher for his sick daughter, Maria was chosen, partly because of her training and skill as a teacher, but also because of concern for her health. She was supposed to remain with the von Trapps for 10 months.
There is more..
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html
The 7 that Georg Von Trapp had then the 3 childen that he and Maria had made up the 10 children.
Maria wasBorn January 26, 1905 Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died March 28, 1987 (aged 82) Morrisville, Vermont
Spouse Georg von Trapp (1880-1947)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_von_Trapp
The Trapp family made a series of 78-rpm discs for RCA Victor, some of which were later issued on RCA Camden LPs. There were also a few later recordings released on LPs, including some stereo sessions. The family also made an appearance on an Elvis Presley christmas record.
Von Trapp Children
-Rupert (born in 1911-92) practiced as a medical doctor until the mid-80´s and died at the age of 80. He had six children.
-Agathe (born in 1913) lives near Baltimore, Maryland and is working for a kindergarten.
-Maria (born in 1914)now lives in Stowe, Vermont, after 27 years of missionary work in New Guinea. She went back Salzburg from time to time, and every time she would not miss the "Sound of the Music Tour"...
* Maria von Trapp return Salzburg
-Werner (born in 1915) became a farmer and has six children. He lives in Waitsfield, Vermont.
-Hedwig (born in 1917) worked at the lodge until her death in 1972.
-Johanna (born in 1919) married in 1948 and left America to return to her homeland Austria. She lived in Vienna until her death in 1994 and had six children.
-Martina (born in 1921) stayed with her family until she married in 1949. She died in childbirth in 1951.
-Rosemarie (born in 1929) lives in Stowe, Vermont.
-Eleonore (born in 1931) stopped singing in 1952, got married in 1954 and raised seven children.
-Johannes Georg (born in 1939) graduated from Dartmouth, has a master´s degree in forestry (Yale) and is now president of the Trapp Family Lodge. He has two children.
updated 2006- http://en.panoramatours.com/
http://www.istrians.com/istria/illustri/non-istrian/von_trapp/index.htm
Maria's passport photo:
The bride:
Georg Von Trapp-the papa:
The Wedding Nov. 1927:
The Family Singers about 1939:
_________________
A good sound track will let me relive the movie, I can cry over them as well. Hand me the tissues...please. |
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