Culture

The Story You Don't Know About Maria Von Trapp's Brush With Hitler

Julie Andrews singing in the Alps. Rolfe and Liesel in the gazebo. The whole family performing "Edelweiss." Movie musical, "The Sound of Music," is an instant serotonin boost. The music, the costumes, and the setting all come together to make movie magic.

By Regan Monnin3 min read
Trapp Family Singers 1941

But, the Von Trapp family’s story is not nearly as picturesque as the movie suggests. And it’s not just because of Rolfe’s tragic conversion to the Nazi ideology. (His betrayal of Liesel and the Von Trapp family destroyed me at 8 years old, and it destroys me now.)