“The Sound of Music” is a lovely musical based on Maria Augusta Kutschera’s memoir. She was an Austrian American matriarch, author, and singer. But how true.. Or untrue, is the movie, as an adaptation of Maria’s life? If you’ve seen the movie, you know it’s dramatized and romanticized. So, here’s the real story.
On January 26, 1905, Maria Augusta Kutshera was born on a moving train bound for Vienna. Only two years later, the strong mother who bore her died of pneumonia. We know little of her father, save that shortly after the passing of Maria’s mother, he leaves her to be raised by an elderly cousin and disappears. Maria’s upbringing is described as “lonely and strict.”
Despite becoming a nun, this path was unexpected, as the entirety of her younger years, she was a cynical, socialist atheist growing up. Then, in college, a chance encounter with a Jesuit priest flips her perspective. This interaction has a profound effect on her beliefs and the focus of her life, leading to Maria’s choice to become a nun. This new, suddenly very religious Maria dedicates her life to the convent. However, as Vontrappresort.com says, “She was taken away from the outdoor activities she loved so much.” Lack of fresh air and exercise becomes a major concern as her health seems to decline. Her personal doctor became increasingly worried, and “The decision was made to send her (Maria) to the home of George Von Trapp. Not to govern all the children, as the movie portrayed, but specifically to tutor the Captain’s daughter, who was bedridden with rheumatic fever.” In ‘The Sound of Music,’ the union of Maria and the Captain- including the events leading up to it- was extremely romanticized. Not to mention that it glosses over their significant age gap. When they wed, Maria Kutchera was 22, and the Captain was 47. Not an uncommon occurrence of the era, but it still makes you think.
In her memoir, Maria writes this on the topic of her marriage.
“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. By and by, I learned to love him more than I ever had before or after.” This proves to be true, as Maria and the Captain have three children together before leaving Austria. The Von Trapp Family was originally very well off, until the great depression, when they lost all their money. The family then became a singing group to make a living. This continued for the next decade, until they fled Austria by train when the Nazis took control of their homeland in 1938. In America, they bought and ran a lodge in Vermont, which they named “The Trapp Family Lodge.” It is still in business today.