Maria Augusta von Trapp
Maria Augusta von Trapp (born January 26, 1905 in Vienna ; † March 28, 1987 in Morrisville , Vermont , USA ) was an Austrian singer and writer who emigrated to the USA after the "Anschluss" of Austria to the "Third Reich" Applied for American citizenship in 1944.
Life
She was born as Maria Augusta Kutschera in simple circumstances in Vienna. Her mother died a few days after the birth, and she lost her father three years later. After that, she grew up with her grandmother and a guardian.
She was trained to be a teacher and, after a conversion experience, joined the Roman Catholic League Neuland . She worked as an educator at the monastery school of the Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg and wanted to join the order as a postulant . In 1925 the abbess sent her as a tutor to the convalescent Maria , daughter of the famous Austrian corvette captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp . On November 26, 1927, she became the second wife of the widower Trapp, with whom she had daughters Rosemarie and Eleonore in 1929 and 1931.
The children from his first marriage addressed them as “mother” to distinguish them from their biological mamá (stress on the second syllable).
Since the family lost their entire fortune in 1935, they founded a family choir with her husband's children (five daughters, two sons). Franz Wasner , the local chaplain of the Trapp family, took over the musical direction . As early as 1937, the choir won first prize in the folk singing competition at the Salzburg Festival .
As a monarchist-minded officer, Georg Ludwig von Trapp faced major difficulties when Austria was "annexed" to the "Third Reich" in 1938 . After renting their property in Aigen to a religious order, the family emigrated to the USA that same year , where they accompanied Franz Wasner. The son Johannes was born there in 1939. The family settled in Stowe , Vermont , where they built a house called Cor Unum .
The family also went on concert tours in the USA and mostly performed under the name Trapp Family Singers . After the end of the Second World War, she organized an aid operation under the name Trapp Family Austrian Relief Inc. and collected clothing and food for Austria . After the death of Georg Ludwig Trapp in 1947, Johanna left the family choir, later Werner († 2007) left. Martina died early, Eleonore started her own family, and Rosemarie was no longer available for tours due to stage fright.
The choir went on several tours a. a. through South America and Australia . In 1950 Maria Augusta von Trapp performed with her choir at the Salzburg Festival. In 1956 the choir, which had given around 2000 concerts around the world, was dissolved. The surviving "children" still live on the ranch in America today.
Maria Augusta von Trapp wrote her memoirs in 1952 under the title From Monastery to World Success. The book was filmed in 1956 under the title The Trapp Family and 1958 The Trapp Family in America with great success. The “educational” excesses of beating on the children, described by Maria Augusta von Trapp with pride, were not mentioned. In 1959 the story was brought to the stage - a little bit embellished - in the musical The Sound of Music and was very successful in North America for years. The film adaptation of this musical in 1965 (German title Meine Lieder - Meine Träume ), directed by Robert Wise with the main actors Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer , was also a triumph for 20th Century Fox Studios. In 1991 it was adapted as an anime series.
Maria Augusta von Trapp died in Morrisville on March 28, 1987 at the age of 82. She left two daughters and a son.
children
Surname | Date of birth | Remarks |
---|---|---|
Rosemarie von Trapp | February 8, 1929 | worked as a singer and missionary in Papua New Guinea, lives in Vermont |
Eleonore von Trapp | May 14, 1931 | married Hugh David Campbell in 1954 and has seven daughters, she lives with her family in Waitsfield, Vermont |
Johannes von Trapp | January 17, 1939 | married Lynne Peterson in 1969 and has a son (Sam, manager of the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe) and a daughter, Kristina |
Awards
- 1949: Award of the Papal Decoration of Honor Benemerenti by Pope Pius XII. in recognition of their aid program ( Trapp Family Austrian Relief Inc. ) for needy Austrians
- 1952: Admission to the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem
- 1956: Catholic Mother of the Year in the United States. This honorary title is given to women who, through their exemplary behavior, set an example among a larger group of children.
- 1957: Gold Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria by Minister of Education Heinrich Drimmel
- 1967: Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class by Minister of Education Theodor Piffl-Percevic
- 2007: The Trapp family received the Egon Ranshofen-Wertheimer Prize in Braunau am Inn
- 2012: Designation of the traffic area Maria-Trapp-Platz in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district)
Works
- The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. 1949 (German: The Trapp family. From monastery to global success . Translated from the English by Elisabeth Belnay. Vienna, Frick 1952).
- Around the Year with the Trapp Family. 1955 (Ger .: Celebrating with the Trapp family . Vienna, Frick 1960).
- A Family on Wheels: Further Adventures of the Trapp Family Singers. 1959 (German: The Trapp family. From world success to world success . Vienna, Frick 1963).
- Yesterday, Today and Forever: The Religious Life of a Remarkable Family. 1952. (German: Yesterday, today, forever . Translated from the English by Martha Eberherr. Vienna, Frick 1954).
- Maria. 1972.
literature
- Stefan Müller: The Trapp family - the mother and her godly husband, DIE ZEIT No. 29/2012
Web links
- Entry on Maria Augusta von Trapp in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
- Literature by and about Maria Augusta von Trapp in the catalog of the German National Library
- Maria Augusta von Trapp in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- http://www.trappfamily.com
- Movie vs. Reality - The Real Story of the von Trapp Family in the US National Archives (English, with original documents from the US immigration authorities)
- archives.gov
- genforum.genealogy.com
- sap.or.at
- Baroness von Trapp in the online archive of the Austrian Media Library
Individual evidence
- ^ The Real Story of the Von Trapp Family. In: www.archives.gov. Retrieved April 22, 2016 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Trapp, Maria Augusta from |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kutschera, Maria Augusta (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer and writer of Austrian origin |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 26, 1905 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
DATE OF DEATH | March 28, 1987 |
Place of death | Morrisville , Vermont, USA |