Maria Augusta von Trapp DHS (; 26 January 1905 – 28 March 1987), often styled as "Baroness", was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family. She wrote the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, which was published in 1949 and was the inspiration for the 1956 West German film The Trapp Family, which in turn inspired the 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music and its 1965 film version.
Biography
Early life
Maria was purportedly born on 26 January 1905 to Karl and Augusta (née Rainer) Kuczera. She says she was delivered on a train on the night of the 25th, during her mother's return from her homeland of Tyrol to their family residence in Vienna, Austria.
Her father was a hotel commissionaire, the son of Josef Kučera from a Moravian village, Vídeň. Karl was first married in Graz to Klara Rainer in 1887. The couple had a son Karl in 1888 before Klara's death a few months later. Maria's father remained a widower until he remarried to Klara's younger sister, Augusta, in 1903. Augusta died of pulmonary tuberculosis when Maria was nearly 10 months old. Maria's grief-stricken father left her with his cousin in Kagran, Maria's foster mother's son-in-law, Uncle Franz, then became her guardian.
Uncle Franz mistreated Maria and punished her for things she did not do; he was later found to be mentally ill. This changed Maria from a shy child into the teenage "class cut-up", figuring she may as well have fun if she were going to get in trouble either way. Despite this change, Maria continued to get good grades.
Marriage
thumb|[[Georg von Trapp on the bridge of submarine U-5 of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (1915)]]
While still teaching at the Abbey in 1926, Maria was asked to teach Maria Franziska von Trapp, one of seven children born to widowed naval commander Georg von Trapp. His first wife, the Anglo-Austrian heiress Agathe Whitehead, had earlier died in 1922 from scarlet fever. Eventually, Maria began to look after the other children: Rupert, Agathe, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna, and Martina.
Captain von Trapp saw how much she cared about his children and asked her to marry him, although he was 25 years her senior. Frightened, she fled back to Nonnberg Abbey to seek guidance from the mother abbess, Virgilia Lütz, who advised her it was God's will that she should marry him. She then returned to the family and accepted his proposal. She wrote in her autobiography that she was very angry on her wedding day, both at God and at her new husband, because she really wanted to be a nun. "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. I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after."
Medical problems
The von Trapps enjoyed hiking. On one outing, they stayed overnight at a farmer's house. The next morning, they were informed that Maria and two of Georg's daughters, Johanna and Martina, had scarlet fever. Johanna and Martina recovered, but the older Maria developed kidney stones due to dehydration. Her stepdaughter, Maria Franziska, accompanied her to Vienna for a successful surgery, but Maria experienced lifelong kidney problems. To survive, the Trapps dismissed most of their servants, moved into the top floor of their house, and rented out the other rooms. The Archbishop of Salzburg, Sigismund Waitz, sent Father Franz Wasner to stay with them as their chaplain and this began their singing career.
After performing at a festival in 1935, they became a popular touring act. They experienced life under the Nazis after the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria by Germany) in March 1938. Life became increasingly difficult as they witnessed hostility toward Jewish children by their classmates, the use of children against their parents, and finally by the extension of an offer for Georg to join the German Navy. In September, the family fled Austria for Italy via train, then to England and finally the United States. The Nazis made use of their abandoned home as Heinrich Himmler's headquarters.
Initially calling themselves the "Trapp Family Choir", the von Trapps began to perform in the United States and Canada. They performed in New York City at The Town Hall on 10 December 1938.</blockquote>
thumb|Trapp Family Singers preparing for a concert in Boston in 1941. Maria is the third from left, in a dark suit.
Charles Wagner was their first booking agent; Then they signed on with Frederick Christian Schang. Thinking the name "Trapp Family Choir" too "churchy", Schang Americanized their repertoire and, following his suggestion, the group changed its name to the "Trapp Family Singers". Rupert and Werner became citizens by serving during World War II, while Rosmarie and Eleonore became citizens by virtue of their mother's citizenship. Johannes was born in the United States in Philadelphia on 17 January 1939 during a concert tour. Hedwig returned to Austria and worked as a teacher in Umhausen.
Death
Maria von Trapp died of heart failure on 28 March 1987, aged 82, in Morrisville, Vermont, three days following surgery. She is interred in the family cemetery at the lodge, along with her husband and five of her step-children.
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File:Trapp Family Cemetery.jpg|The family cemetery in 2022. Maria's grave is on the left
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Decorations and awards
The family has won the following awards: || 13 May 2022 (aged 93)|| Rosmarie worked as a singer and missionary in Papua New Guinea. She most recently lived in Pittsburgh.
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| Eleonore von Trapp || 14 May 1931 || 17 October 2021<br/>(aged 90) || Married Hugh David Campbell in 1954 and had seven daughters with him. Lived with her family in Waitsfield, Vermont.
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Adaptations of the autobiography
Maria von Trapp's book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, published in 1949, was a best-seller. It was made into two successful German / Austrian films:
- The Trapp Family (1956)
- The Trapp Family in America (1958)
The book was then adapted into The Sound of Music, a 1959 Broadway musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel. It was a success, running for more than three years. The musical was adapted in 1965 as a motion picture of the same name, starring Julie Andrews. The film version set US box office records, and Maria von Trapp received about $500,000 ($ today) in royalties.
Maria von Trapp sang "Edelweiss" with Andrews on The Julie Andrews Hour in 1973. In 1991, a 40 episode anime series, titled Trapp Family Story aired in Japan, her character referred to by her maiden name (Maria Kutschera), voiced by Masako Katsuki. She was portrayed in the 2015 film The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music by Yvonne Catterfeld.
Authored books
References
External links
- Maria von Trapp interview on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs, 29 December 1983