Fans of the beloved movie “The Sound of Music” might not realize that the story is based on the real life Van Trapp family that fled the Nazi take over of Austria and settled in America, eventually in Stowe, Vermont where they opened a resort.
On the 12th of March, 1938 Austrians witnessed the annexation of Austria into totalitarian Nazi Germany. This is when Werner von Trapp, age 23 and his family courageously escaped. As refugees, the family arrived in New York where they earned a living as singers and became popular with concert audiences. They performed in the U.S. and 30 other countries until 1956.
During this time traveling around the country they eventually found some land in the mountains of Stowe, Vermont that reminded them of the Alps and settled down to run a resort business and create a cross-country ski center.
In 1943 von Trapp entered the U.S. Army, serving in Europe with the ski troops as part of the 10th Mountain Division. Knowing that WWII would include fighting in the Alps, the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) in the US Army was designated as a mountain warfare unit and received intense specialized training for fighting in mountainous and arctic conditions.
After the war, Werner von Trapp returned to his family’s farm in Stowe, Vermont, and resumed touring with the family choir. On a hillside behind the family home, von Trapp built a stone chapel in thanksgiving for his safe return from wartime service.
You can still visit this beautiful small chapel in the woods on the Trapp Family Resort.