View source for Georg von Trapp

{{short description|Trapp family patriarch (1880–1947)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Georg von Trapp
| image              = Georg von Trapp.jpg
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1880|4|4|df=y}}
| birth_place        = Zara, [[Kingdom of Dalmatia]], [[Austria-Hungary]] ([[Zadar]], Croatia)
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1947|5|30|1880|4|4|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Stowe, Vermont]], U.S.
| resting_place      = Trapp Family Cemetery, [[Trapp Family Lodge]], Stowe, Vermont
| nationality        = Austrian; Italian
| spouse             = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Agathe Whitehead]]|1911|1922|end=d}}
* {{marriage|[[Maria von Trapp|Maria Augusta Kutschera]]|1927}}
}}
| children           = 10, including [[Agathe von Trapp|Agathe]], [[Maria Franziska von Trapp|Maria Franziska]], and [[Johannes von Trapp|Johannes]]
| module             = {{Infobox military person | embed=yes
    |nickname=
    | allegiance= [[Austria-Hungary]]
    | branch= [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]]
    | serviceyears= 1898–1918
    | rank= {{lang|de|[[Korvettenkapitän]]}} (lieutenant-commander)
    | commands=
*{{ship|SM|U-6|Austria-Hungary|6}} (July 1910 – July 1913)
*Torpedo Boat 52 (1913–1914)
*{{ship|SM|U-5|Austria-Hungary|6}} (April–October 1915)
*{{ship|SM|U-14|Austria-Hungary|6}} (October 1915 – May 1918)
*Submarine base commander at [[Cattaro]] (May–November 1918)
   |battles=[[Boxer Rebellion]]<br>[[World War I]]
   |awards=Knight's Cross of the [[Military Order of Maria Theresa]] (1924)
   |relations=
  }}
}}

[[File:SMU-5 Trapp.jpg|thumb|On duty aboard SM ''U-5'']]

'''Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp'''{{efn|{{German title Ritter}} In Austria, the title of "Ritter" (knight) became legally part of the person's name. Many English sources incorrectly refer to him as a "Baron,"<ref name="nytimes1997_tribute"/> which is one step above ''Ritter'' in the [[Austrian nobility]]. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, recipients of the [[Order of Maria Theresa]] were entitled to be elevated to Baron.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bush |first1=M. L. |title=Noble privilege |date=1983 |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=9780719009136 |page=124 |quote=... membership of the Order of Maria Theresa could impart the title of baron. In this respect, membership of these orders could socially elevate noblemen.}}</ref> However, Trapp received the decoration in 1924 from the [[First Austrian Republic|Republic of Austria]], which did not confer any titles of nobility.}}<ref name="foundation_naval">{{cite web |url=https://www.georgandagathe.org/history--georg-s-naval-career.html |title=Georg's Naval Career |website=Georg & Agathe Foundation  |access-date=10 February 2018 }}</ref><ref>Heeresgeschichtliches Museum / Militärhistorisches Institut (Hrsg.): ''Das Heeresgeschichtliche Museum im Wiener Arsenal''. Verlag Militaria, Wien 2016, {{ISBN|978-3-902551-69-6}}, S. 164</ref> (4 April 1880 – 30 May 1947) was an officer in the [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]] who became the patriarch of the [[Trapp Family|Trapp Family Singers]].

Trapp was the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of [[World War I]],{{efn|name=hudecek}} sinking 11 Allied merchant ships totaling 47,653 [[Gross register tonnage|GRT]] and two Allied warships displacing 12,641 tons.<ref name="uboat.net">{{cite web |title=Korvettenkapitän Georg Ritter von Trapp|url=https://uboat.net/wwi/men/commanders/542.html |website=uboat.net}}</ref> Trapp's accomplishments during World War I earned him numerous decorations, including the [[Military Order of Maria Theresa]].

His first wife [[Agathe Whitehead]] died of scarlet fever in 1922, leaving behind seven children. Trapp hired [[Maria von Trapp|Maria Augusta Kutschera]] to tutor one of his daughters and married her in 1927. He lost most of his wealth in the [[Great Depression]], so the family turned to singing as a way of earning a livelihood. Trapp declined a commission in the [[Kriegsmarine|German Navy]] after the ''[[Anschluss]]'' and emigrated with his family to the United States.<ref name="nytimes1997_tribute">{{cite news|title=Tribute to Baron von Trapp Joined by Country He Fled|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/14/us/tribute-to-baron-von-trapp-joined-by-country-he-fled.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 July 1997|access-date=8 January 2011}}</ref>

After his death in 1947, the family home in [[Stowe, Vermont]], became the [[Trapp Family Lodge]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Von Trapp Family House History |url=https://www.trappfamily.com/von-trapp-story.htm |website=Trapp Family Lodge}}</ref> Maria von Trapp's 1949 memoir ''[[The Story of the Trapp Family Singers]]'' was adapted into the West German film ''[[The Trapp Family]]'' (1956), which served as the basis for the [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]] musical ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' (1959) and the [[The Sound of Music (film)|1965 film adaptation]] directed by [[Robert Wise]].

==Early life==
Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp was born in [[Zadar|Zara]] in the [[Kingdom of Dalmatia]], then a [[crown land]] of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]] and now in [[Croatia]]. His father, [[Frigate captain|''Fregattenkapitän'']] August Johann Trapp (1836-1884), was a naval officer, and his mother, Hedwig Wepler (1855-1911) had immigrated to the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic Coast]] from the [[Grand Duchy of Hesse]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=G&A {{!}} Georg & Agathe |url=https://www.georgandagathe.org/history--georg---agathe.html |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Georg & Agathe Foundation |language=en}}</ref> His father had been raised to the [[Austrian nobility]] with the hereditary title of ''[[Ritter]],'' upon being made a member of the [[Order of the Iron Crown (Austria)|Order of the Iron Crown]]; he died of [[typhoid fever]] in 1884 (aged forty-eight), when Georg was four.<ref>{{cite web |title=G&A - Children/Parents/Grandparents |url=http://georgandagathe.org/children-parents-grandparents.html |website=Georg & Agathe Foundation}}</ref><ref name=salute/> Trapp’s older sister was the Austrian artist [[Hede von Trapp]], and his brother Werner died in 1915 during [[World War I]].<ref name="salute" />

==Naval career==
In 1894, aged fourteen, Trapp followed in his father's footsteps and joined the [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]], entering the [[:de:Marineakademie Fiume|Imperial and Royal Naval Academy]] at [[Fiume]].<ref name="salute" /> As part of their required education, all naval cadets were taught to play a musical instrument; Georg von Trapp selected the violin.<ref name="foundation_naval" /> He graduated four years later and completed two years of follow-on training voyages, including one to [[Australia]], as a cadet aboard the sail training corvette SMS ''Saida II''.<ref name="foundation_naval"/> On the voyage home, he visited the [[Holy Land]], where he met a [[Franciscan]] friar who took him on a tour of all the Biblical sites he wanted to see. Among other things, Trapp bought seven bottles of water from the [[Jordan River]] which were later used to [[baptize]] his first seven children.<ref name=salute/>

In 1900, he was assigned to the [[protected cruiser]] {{SMS|Zenta}} and was decorated for his performance during the [[Boxer Rebellion]] in China, in which he participated in the assault on the [[Battle of the Taku Forts (1900)|Taku Forts]].<ref name="foundation_naval"/> In 1902, he passed the final officer's examination, and was commissioned a ''[[Fregattenleutnant]]'' (frigate lieutenant, equivalent to [[sub-lieutenant]]) in May 1903.<ref name="foundation_naval"/> He was fascinated by [[submarine]]s, and in 1908 seized the opportunity to transfer to the navy's newly formed submarine arm, or ''U-boot-Waffe'', receiving promotion to ''[[Linienschiffsleutnant]]'' (ship-of-the-line lieutenant, or lieutenant) that November.<ref name="foundation_naval"/> In 1910 he was given command of the newly constructed {{ship|SM|U-6|Austria-Hungary|6}}.<ref name=nara2>{{Cite news|first=Joan|last=Gearin|url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html|title=The Real Story of the von Trapp Family|access-date=5 January 2009|quote=Maria Kutschera and Georg von Trapp married in 1927. They had three children together: Rosmarie (born 1928 or 1929) <!-- Please do not add just the 8 February 1929 date used in the book by her mother, you have to include the legal documents that use the date 8 February 1928-->, Eleonore (born 1931), and Johannes (born 1939).|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] }}</ref> He commanded ''U-6'' until 1913.<ref>{{Cite web |title=G&A {{!}} Georg's Naval Career |url=http://www.georgandagathe.org/history--georg-s-naval-career.html |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Georg & Agathe Foundation |language=en}}</ref>

===World War I===

On 17 April 1915, Trapp took command of {{ship|SM|U-5|Austria-Hungary|6}}. He conducted nine combat patrols in ''U-5'', and sank two enemy warships. One was the French armored cruiser {{ship|French cruiser|Léon Gambetta||2}}, sunk at {{Coord|39|30|N|18|15|E}} on 27 April 1915, {{convert|25|km|nmi mi|abbr=off}} south of Cape Santa Maria di Leuca. In hunting and sinking  ''Gambetta'', Trapp achieved a notable success as commander of the first-ever underwater nighttime (and only the second) submarine attack on a vessel in the Adriatic.<ref name="foundation_naval"/> Just over three months later, he sank the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Nereide|1913|2}} at {{Coord|42|23|N|16|16|E}} on 5 August 1915, {{convert|250|m|yd}} off [[Palagruža|Pelagosa (Palagruža) Island]].<ref>von Trapp, p. 41.</ref> He also captured the Greek steamer ''Cefalonia'' off [[Durrës|Durazzo]] on 29 August 1915. Some sources incorrectly credit Trapp with sinking the Italian troop transport and [[armed merchant cruiser]] {{SS|Principe Umberto||2}},<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cummins |first1=C. Lyle |title=Diesels for the first stealth weapon : submarine power 1902-1945 |date=2007 |publisher=Carnot Press |location=Wilsonville, Oregon |isbn=9780917308062 |page=105 |quote=George Ritter von Trapp, of von Trapp Family Singers fame ... was also skipper when she torpedoed ... the loaded Italian troop transport ''Principe Umberto'' ...}}</ref> which resulted in the greatest loss of life in any submarine attack in World War I, but the ship was actually sunk by ''U-5'', commanded by Friedrich Schlosser.<ref>{{cite web |title=Linenschiffleutnant Friedrich Schlosser |url=https://www.uboat.net/wwi/men/commanders/533.html |website=uboat.net}}</ref>

Trapp was transferred to the {{ship|SM|U-14|Austria-Hungary|6}}, the former [[Curie (Q 87)|French submarine ''Curie'']], which had been sunk and salvaged by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.<ref>{{harvnb|von Trapp|2007|p=67}}</ref> He conducted ten more war patrols in the much larger submarine, attacking merchant ships instead of warships. Between April 1917 and October 1917, ''U-14'' sank 11 Allied merchant ships under Trapp's command.

In May 1918, he was promoted to [[Corvette captain|''Korvettenkapitän'']] (equal to [[lieutenant commander]]) and given command of the submarine base at [[Kotor|Cattaro]] in the [[Gulf of Kotor]]. However, Austria-Hungary's defeat in World War I led to the empire's collapse. The territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was divided among seven countries, with the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]] keeping most of the seacoast. The [[Republic of German-Austria]] was landlocked and no longer had a navy, putting an end to Trapp's naval career.<ref name=salute/>

===War record===

Trapp's patrols in ''U-5'' and ''U-14'' made him the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of World War I, sinking 11 Allied merchant ships totaling 47,653 [[Gross register tonnage|GRT]] and two Allied warships [[Displacement (ship)|displacing]] a total of 12,641 tons.<ref name="uboat.net"/>{{efn|name=hudecek|Some sources incorrectly credit [[Zdenko Hudeček]] with being the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of the war.<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Hara |first1=Vincent P. |title=To Crown the Waves: The Great Navies of the First World War |date=2013 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=9781612512693 |quote=Overall, Austro-Hungarian submarines in the Adiratic and Mediterranean sank 196,093 GRT of enemy and neutral merchant ships. The top aces were Lieutenant Commander Zdenko Hudecek and Georg von Trapp, who accounted for 47,788 and 44,595 GRT, respectively.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pergl |first1=G. E. |title=Historical Abstracts: Twentieth century abstracts, 1914-. Part B. |date=1973 |publisher=American Bibliographical Center of ABC-Clio |page=14 |quote=... show clearly that the Austrian submarine ace of the period was not George von Trapp, but Zdenko Hudeček, who with his submarine U-28, sank 12 enemy ships, totaling 48,000 tons gross weight.}}</ref> Trapp is ahead of Hudeček when warship displacement is added to merchant tonnage, giving him over 60,000 tons of enemy ships sunk.<ref name="foundation_naval"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sondhaus |first1=Lawrence |title=The Great War at Sea: A Naval History of the First World War |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England |isbn=9781107036901 |page=275 |quote=The leading commanders in terms of tonnage sunk were Germany's Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière ... and for Austria-Hungary's much smaller effort, Georg von Trapp, who sank 60,294 tons ...}}</ref> Hudeček is competitive on merchant ship tonnage sunk, but only when he is credited with sinking the British tanker ''Mitra'', which was actually damaged but not sunk.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tanker Mitra |url=https://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/4185.html |website=uboat.net}}</ref><ref name="sárhida">{{cite book |last1=Sárhida |first1=Gyula |title=Tengerek szürke farkasai |date=1989 |publisher=Maecenas |location=Budapest |isbn=9789637425158 |page=98 |quote=1. von Trapp, U-14, 11- 44 595 BRT* 2. Hudecek, U-17, U-28, 11- 39 727 BRT}}</ref> When ''Mitra'' is removed from Hudeček's list, Trapp is ahead even on merchant shipping.<ref name="sárhida"/><ref name="uboat.net"/><ref name="uboat.net_hudecek">{{cite web |title=Linenschiffleutnant Zdenko Hudecek|url=https://www.uboat.net/wwi/men/commanders/513.html |website=uboat.net}}</ref>}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Vessels attacked while in command of ''U-5''
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Vessel
! scope="col" | Nationality
! scope="col" | Fate
|-
| align="right"|27 April 1915
| align="left" |{{ship|French cruiser|Léon Gambetta||2}}
| align="left" |{{navy|France|name=France}}
| align="right"|Sunk
|-
| align="right"|5 August 1915
| align="left" |{{ship|Italian submarine|Nereide|1913|2}}
| align="left" |{{navy|Kingdom of Italy|name=Italy}}
| align="right"|Sunk
|-
| align="right"|29 August 1915
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in August 1915#29 August|''Cefalonia'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|Greece|old}}
| align="left" |Captured
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Vessels sunk while in command of ''U-14''
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Vessel
! scope="col" | Nationality
! scope="col" | Location
|-
| align="right"|28 April 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in April 1917#28 April|''Teakwood'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|36|39|N|21|10|E}}
|-
| align="right"|3 May 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in May 1917#3 May|''Antonio Sciesa'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|Kingdom of Italy|name=Italy}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|36|39|N|21|15|E}}
|-
| align="right"|5 July 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in July 1917#5 July|''Marionga Goulandris'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|Kingdom of Greece|state|name=Greece}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|35|38|N|22|36|E}}
|-
| align="right"|23 August 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in August 1917#23 August|''Constance'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|French Third Republic|name=France}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|36|51|N|17|25|E}}
|-
| align="right"|24 August 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in August 1917#24 August|''Kilwinning'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|35|26|N|16|30|E}}
|-
| align="right"|26 August 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in August 1917#26 August|''Titian'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|34|20|N|17|30|E}}
|-
| align="right"|28 August 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in August 1917#28 August|''Nairn'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|34|05|N|19|20|E}}
|-
| align="right"|29 August 1917
| align="left" |{{SS|Milazzo||2}}
| align="left" |{{flag|Kingdom of Italy|name=Italy}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|34|44|N|19|16|E}}
|-
| align="right"|18 October 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in October 1917#18 October|''Good Hope'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|35|53|N|17|05|E}}
|-
| align="right"|18 October 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in October 1917#18 October|''Elsiston'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|35|40|N|17|28|E}}
|-
| align="right"|23 October 1917
| align="left" |[[List of shipwrecks in October 1917#23 October|''Capo Di Monte'']]
| align="left" |{{flag|Kingdom of Italy|name=Italy}}
| align="right"|{{Coord|34|53|N|19|50|E}}
|}

===Orders, decorations and medals===
* Knight's Cross of the [[Military Order of Maria Theresa]] (1924)
* Knight's Cross of the [[Order of Leopold (Austria)|Imperial Order of Leopold]]
* Knight 2nd Class of the [[Order of the Iron Crown (Austria)|Order of the Iron Crown]] (1917)
* Bronze [[Military Merit Medal (Austria-Hungary)|Military Merit Medal]] ("Signum Laudis")
* [[Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary)|Military Merit Cross]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uboat.net/wwi/men/commanders/542.html|title=Korvettenkapitän Georg Ritter von Trapp - German and Austrian U-boats of World War One - Kaiserliche Marine - uboat.net|website=uboat.net}}</ref>
* 1898 Jubilee Medal
* 1908 Jubilee Cross
* War Medal 1914–1918 with swords
* Long Service Cross (18 years)
* [[Iron Cross|Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class]] (German Empire)
* [[Liakat Medal]] (Ottoman Empire)
* [[Order of St. Stanislaus (Russian Empire)|Order of St. Stanislaus 3rd Class]] (Russian Empire)

==First marriage and inherited wealth==

[[File:Whitehead-Agather 1909circa.jpg|thumb|Lieutenant Georg Ritter von Trapp and Agathe Whitehead about 1910]]

Trapp married [[Agathe Whitehead|Agathe Gobertina Whitehead]],<ref name="Georg & Agathe">[https://www.georgandagathe.org/history--georg---agathe.html Georg & Agathe FOUNDATION Honoring the von Trapp and Whitehead Heritage]</ref> the eldest daughter and third child of Countess Agathe Gobertina von Breunner-Enckevoirth (1856–1945), Austro-Hungarian nobility, and [[Cavaliere]] ([[Knight]]) John Whitehead (1854–1902), son of [[Robert Whitehead (engineer)|Robert Whitehead]] (1823–1905) who invented the modern [[torpedo]] and a partner at the family's [[Rijeka, Croatia|Fiume]] [[Whitehead Torpedo Factory]]<ref name="Georg & Agathe" /> (not, as frequently stated, a niece of the British Government minister [[St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton]]). The British government rejected Whitehead's invention, but Austrian Emperor [[Franz Josef]] invited him to open a torpedo factory in [[Rijeka, Croatia|Fiume]].<ref name=salute>{{Cite book|last= von Trapp|first=Georg |title=To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOHuFPfh4uwC&q=January+10,+1911+von+trapp&pg=PR14|isbn=978-0-8032-4667-6|date=1 December 2007|publisher=U of Nebraska Press }}</ref> Trapp's first command was the U-boat ''U-6'' which was launched by Agathe.<ref name=salute/><ref>Sources conflict on whether the marriage took place in January 1911 or January 1912.</ref>

Agathe's inherited wealth sustained the couple and permitted them to start a family, and they had two sons and five daughters over the next ten years. Their first child was [[Rupert von Trapp|Rupert]],<ref name=ssdirupert>Social Security Death Index as "Rupert Vontrapp" 1 November 1911 – 22 February 1992; 05672 (Stowe, Lamoille, VT); 127-14-1082; Social Security issued in New York</ref> born on 1 November 1911 at [[Pula]] while the couple were living at Pina Budicina 11.<ref group=Map>The Villa Trapp is at Pina Budicina 11 at {{Coord|44|52|10.40|N|13|50|29.43|E|display=inline}}</ref> Their other children were: [[Agathe von Trapp|Agathe]], also born in Pula; [[Maria Franziska von Trapp|Maria Franziska]], [[Werner von Trapp|Werner]];<ref name=marriagewerner>{{Cite news|title=Susan Hoyt, Teacher, Sets July Wedding|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/03/23/archives/susan-hoyt-teacher-sets-july-wedding.html|work=The New York Times|date=23 March 1980|access-date=21 July 2007}}</ref> [[Hedwig von Trapp|Hedwig]], and [[Johanna von Trapp|Johanna]], all born at the family home the Erlhof in [[Zell am See]];<ref group="Map">The Erlhof is at {{Coord|47|18|46.88|N|12|48|59.53|E|display=inline}}</ref> and [[Martina von Trapp|Martina]], born at the Martinsschlössel at [[Klosterneuburg]], for which she was named.<ref group="Map">The Martinsschlössel is at {{Coord|48|18|48.04|N|16|19|10.47|E|display=inline}}</ref>

On 3 September 1922, Agathe von Trapp died of [[scarlet fever]] contracted from her daughter Agathe.<ref name=salute/> Trapp then acquired Villa Trapp in Aigen, a suburb of [[Salzburg]], and moved his family there in 1924.<ref name=salute/><ref group=Map>The family villa in Aigen is at {{Coord|47|47|19.59|N|13|4|53.00|E|display=inline}}</ref> During this period, he delivered several lectures and conducted interviews on his naval career.<ref name="foundation_naval"/>

==Second marriage==
About 1926, Maria Franziska was recovering from an illness and was unable to go to school, so Trapp hired [[Maria von Trapp|Maria Augusta Kutschera]], a [[Novitiate|novice]] from the nearby [[Nonnberg Abbey]] as a tutor.<ref name=chrono>{{cite news |author=Trapp Family Lodge |url=http://www.trappfamily.com/agathevontrapp |title=The von Trapp Chronology |access-date=2015-04-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830182358/http://www.trappfamily.com/agathevontrapp |archive-date=30 August 2011 }}</ref> They were married on 26 November 1927 when he was 47 and she was 22.<ref name=salute/><ref name=nara1>[[:commons:File:MariaVonTrapp|Petition for Naturalization]], Retrieved 5 January 2009</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2017|reason=[[WP:CIRCULAR]]}} They had three children: [[Rosmarie von Trapp|Rosmarie]], born on 8 February 1929,<ref name=prologue/>{{better source needed|date=October 2023}} Eleonore (called Lorli), born 14 May 1931, and [[Johannes von Trapp|Johannes]], born 17 January 1939 in Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps-html |title=Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the von Trapp Family |website=National Archives |date=15 August 2016 |publisher=Prologue Magazine |access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref>

==Turning to music==
[[File:Music. Rupert & Werner Von Trapp BAnQ P48S1P13787.jpg|thumb|left|The two eldest Trapp sons, [[Rupert von Trapp|Rupert]] (right) and [[Werner von Trapp|Werner]], in U.S. Army uniforms, reading sheet music on 24 January 1946]]
In 1935, Trapp's money, inherited from his English first wife, was invested in a bank in England. Austria was under economic pressure from a hostile Germany, and Austrian banks were in a precarious position. Trapp sought to help a friend in the banking business, Auguste Caroline Lammer (1885–1937), so he withdrew most of his money from London and deposited it in an Austrian bank. The bank failed, wiping out most of the family's substantial fortune.<ref name=nara2/>

At about that time, a Catholic priest, [[Franz Wasner]], instructed the children in music.<ref>{{cite web |title=Franz Wasner |url=https://www.sound-of-music.com/the-real-story/franz-wasner/ |website=The Sound of Music Salzburg |publisher=Panorama Tours |date=14 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ransom |first1=Candice F. |title=Maria von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music |date=2002 |publisher=Carolrhoda Books |location=Minneapolis |isbn=9781575054445 |pages=44–45}}</ref> Around 1936, [[Lotte Lehmann]] heard the family sing, and she suggested they perform paid concerts. When the Austrian Chancellor [[Kurt von Schuschnigg]] heard them on the radio, he invited them to perform in [[Vienna]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Family Choir|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772134,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415083822/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772134,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 April 2009|work=[[Time magazine]]|date=19 December 1938|access-date=7 January 2011}}</ref>  Father Wasner became the group's musical director.

==Departure from Austria==
According to Maria von Trapp's memoirs{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}, Georg von Trapp found himself in a vexing situation after the [[Anschluss|German takeover of Austria]] in 1938. He was offered a commission in the [[Kriegsmarine|German Navy]]. This was a tempting proposition, particularly when Georg von Trapp saw the technological advances in 1930s U-boats unthinkable compared to those he had once commanded in World War I, but Trapp decided to decline the offer out of hostility to [[Nazi ideology]]. He also politely declined a request for the family choir to perform at [[Holidays in Nazi Germany|Hitler's birthday]] concert. After his eldest son also announced his intention to refuse to benefit from [[anti-Semitism]] and to similarly decline a medical position at a prestigious Vienna hospital that had just fired all [[Austrian Jew|Jewish]] doctors, Georg von Trapp realized that the writing was on the wall. He summoned all his children and warned them that no family could safely refuse three successive offers from a man like [[Adolf Hitler]]. After Georg advised them that they must choose between a life of comfort or become [[refugee]]s and keep their honour,<ref name=prologue/> the Trapp family decided to emigrate from [[Nazi Austria]].

On leaving Austria, the Trapps traveled by train to Italy (not over the mountains by foot to [[Switzerland]] as is depicted in ''The Sound of Music''). The family had a contract with an American booking agent when they left Austria. Once in Italy, they contacted the agent and requested fare to America,<ref name=prologue>{{cite magazine |last=Gearin |first=Joan |date=30 October 2005 |title=Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the Von Trapp Family |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html |magazine=Prologue |url-status=dead |location=USA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629040126/http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html |volume=37 |issue=4 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |access-date=30 December 2017 }}.</ref> first traveling to London, before sailing to the United States for their first concert tour.<ref name=prologue/><ref name=life>{{cite news|title=Family Life in Vermont|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,794845-1,00.html|work=Time Magazine|date=18 July 1949|access-date=7 January 2011}}</ref>

In 1939 the family returned to Europe to tour [[Scandinavia]], hoping to continue their concerts in cities beyond the reach of the Third Reich. During this time, they went back to Salzburg for a few months before returning to [[Sweden]] to finish the tour. From there, they traveled to [[Norway]] to begin the trip back to the United States in September 1939, just after [[World War II]] broke out.<ref name=nara2/>

After living for a short time in [[Merion, Pennsylvania]], where their youngest child, Johannes, was born, the family settled in [[Stowe, Vermont]], in 1941. They purchased a {{convert|660|acre|adj=on}} farm in 1942 and converted it into the [[Trapp Family Lodge]].<ref name="nytimes1997_tribute"/> In January 1947, Major General [[Harry J. Collins]] turned to the Trapp family in the US pleading for help for the Austrian people, having seen first-hand the suffering of the residents of [[Salzburg]] when he had arrived there with the [[42nd Infantry Division (United States)|42nd Infantry Division]] after World War II. The Trapp Family founded the [[Trapp Family Austrian Relief, Inc.]]; the priest Franz Wasner, their pre-war friend, became its treasurer.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

==Death==
Trapp died of [[lung cancer]] on 30 May 1947 in Stowe, Vermont.<ref>Barry Monush: The Sound of Music FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Maria, the Von Trapps, and Our Favorite Things, 2015, p. 20 [https://books.google.com/books?id=-1elCAAAQBAJ&dq=%22cancer%22+%22Georg+von+Trapp%22&pg=PT20]</ref> In ''[[The Story of the Trapp Family Singers]]'' (1949), Maria von Trapp pointed out that there was a high incidence of lung cancer among World War I U-boat crews, due to the diesel and gasoline fumes and poor ventilation, and that his death could be considered service-related. She also acknowledged in her book that, like most men of the period, he was a heavy smoker.<ref>''[[The Story of the Trapp Family Singers]]'' (1949)</ref>

==Children==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image||  Name || Mother || Birth || Death || Notes
|-
| ||[[Rupert von Trapp|Rupert]] || rowspan="7"|[[Agathe Whitehead|Agathe Gobertina née Whitehead]] || 1 November 1911<ref name=salute/> || {{Death date and age|1992|2|22|1911|11|1|df=y}}<ref name=ssdirupert/> || He married Henriette Lajoie (1927) in 1947 and had two sons and four daughters; they later divorced. He later married Janice Tyre (1920–1994), and had no children with her.<ref name=obit>{{Cite news|title=Maria von Trapp, whose life was 'Sound of Music', is Dead|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEED91738F93AA15750C0A961948260|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=29 March 1987|access-date=21 July 2007|first=Peter|last=Kerr}}</ref> He was a physician.<ref name=nara2/><ref name=ssdiwerner/><ref>[[Social Security Death Index]] as "Janice T. Vontrapp" – 26 June 1920; 21 December 1994 (V) 05672 (Stowe, Lamoille, VT); 05672 (Stowe, Lamoille, VT) 169-14-4569; Social Security issued in Pennsylvania</ref>
|-
| [[File:Agathe von Trapp in 1948.jpg|100px]]||[[Agathe von Trapp|Agathe]] || 12 March 1913 ||{{death date and age|2010|12|28|1913|3|12|df=y}}<ref name="agathedeath">{{cite news|title=So long, farewell: Von Trapp daughter dies, aged 97 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/dec/30/von-trapp-daughter-dies|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=30 December 2010|access-date=9 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Obituary: Kindergarten teacher Agathe von Trapp was the real Liesl of The Sound of Music|last=King|first=John|date=29 December 2010|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2010/12/29/obituary_kindergarten_teacher_agathe_von_trapp_was_the_real_liesl_of_the_sound_of_music.html|newspaper=[[Toronto Star]]|access-date=14 February 2019}}</ref>|| She worked as a singer and an artist, and lived in [[Baltimore, Maryland]]. Agathe ran a kindergarten with her longtime friend of 50 years, Mary Louise Kane, at the Sacred Heart Catholic parish in [[Glyndon, Maryland]]. She had no children.<ref name="nytimes1997_tribute"/><ref name=obit/>
|-
| [[File:Maria Franziska von Trapp in 1948.jpg|100px]]||{{nowrap|[[Maria Franziska von Trapp|Maria Franziska]]}} || 28 September 1914<ref>Electronic mail from Carla Campbell von Trapp Hunter from August 2010</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Trapp|first=Johannes von|title=The Trapp Family Biography|url=http://www.trappfamily.com/story/biography}}</ref>||{{Death date and age|2014|2|18|1914|9|28|df=yes}}<ref name=obit/><ref>{{cite news|title=Maria Trapp: Letztes Mitglied der singenden Familie tot|url=http://www.salzburg.com/nachrichten/welt/chronik/sn/artikel/maria-trapp-letztes-mitglied-der-singenden-familie-tot-95418|access-date=21 February 2014|newspaper=Salzburger Nachrichten|date=21 February 2014|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Maria von Trapp, last member of Sound of Music family, dies|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26311694|newspaper=[[BBC]]|date=22 February 2014|access-date=23 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Maria von Trapp: last member of family group that inspired Sound of Music dies. Family escaped Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and won acclaim throughout Europe for their singing|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/23/maria-von-trapp-sound-of-music-dies|agency=[[Associated Press]]|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=22 February 2014|access-date=23 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=cnn>{{cite news|title=Maria von Trapp, last of famous singing siblings, dies at 99|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/22/showbiz/obit-maria-von-trapp|newspaper=[[CNN]]|date=23 February 2014|access-date=23 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=timesobit>{{cite news|title=Maria von Trapp, 'Sound of Music' Daughter, Dies at 99|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/arts/maria-von-trapp-sound-of-music-daughter-dies-at-99.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=23 February 2014 |access-date=24 February 2014 }}</ref>
|| She worked as a singer and missionary in [[Papua New Guinea]], no children. In 2008 she visited the ancestral home.<ref name=obit/><ref>{{Cite news|first=Tom|last=Peterkin|title=Maria Franziska von Trapp returns to home that inspired The Sound of Music|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2460543/Maria-von-Trapp-returns-to-home-that-inspired-The-Sound-of-Music.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726085151/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2460543/Maria-von-Trapp-returns-to-home-that-inspired-The-Sound-of-Music.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 July 2008|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=26 July 2008|access-date=26 December 2008|location=London}}</ref>
|-
|  || [[Werner von Trapp|Werner]] || {{nowrap|21 December 1915}} || {{Death date and age|2007|10|11|1915|12|21|df=y}}<ref name=ssdiwerner>[[Social Security Death Index]] as "Werner Vontrapp" 21 December 1915; 11 October 2007 (V) 05673 (Waitsfield, Washington, VT); 127-14-1139; Social Security issued in New York</ref><ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.trappfamily.com/familystory/history.php?tid=156|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331065411/http://www.trappfamily.com/familystory/history.php?tid=156|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 March 2008|title=Trapp Family biodata|access-date=21 January 2009|publisher=[[Trapp Family Lodge]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Werner von Trapp, a Son in 'Sound of Music' Family, Dies at 91|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/arts/music/15trapp.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/D/Deaths%20(Obituaries)|work=[[Associated Press]] in [[The New York Times]]|date=15 October 2007|access-date=5 January 2009}}</ref> || He married Erika Klambauer in 1948 and had four sons and two daughters, including [[Elisabeth von Trapp]].<ref name=marriagewerner/><ref name=obit/><ref>{{Cite news|title=Granddaughter of 'Sound of Music' duo to perform|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/042408/lei_271644771.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503110530/http://cjonline.com/stories/042408/lei_271644771.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 May 2012|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|date=24 April 2008|access-date=26 December 2008}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Hedwig trapp.jpg|100px]]||[[Hedwig von Trapp|Hedwig]] || 28 July 1917 || {{Death date and age|1972|9|14|1917|7|28|df=y}}<ref name="nytimes1997_tribute"/><ref name=history/> || She worked as a teacher, lived in [[Hawaii]], and died of asthma, no children.
|-
| [[File:Johanna trapp.jpg|100px]] ||[[Johanna von Trapp|Johanna]] || 7 September 1919 || {{Death date and age|1994|11|25|1919|9|7|df=y}}|| She married [[Ernst Florian Winter]] in 1948 and had three sons, one died, and four daughters. She lived in [[Vienna]] and died there.<ref name=obit/>
|-
|[[File:Martina trapp.jpg|100px]] || [[Martina von Trapp|Martina]] || 17 February 1921 || {{Death date and age|1951|2|25|1921|2|17|df=y}}<ref name=history/> || In 1949, she married Jean Dupiere (died before 1998). She died of complications during childbirth and had a [[Stillbirth|stillborn]] daughter.
|-
| ||[[Rosmarie von Trapp|Rosmarie]] || rowspan=3|[[Baroness Maria von Trapp|Maria Augusta von Trapp née Kutschera]] || {{Birth date|1929|2|8}} || {{Death date and age|2022|5|13|1929|2|8|df=y}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/rosmarie-von-trapp-1929-2022-daughter-from-the-sound-of-music-family|title = Rosa Trapp 8.II. 1929  |access-date=2018-01-12 }}</ref>||  Rosmarie worked as a singer and missionary in Papua New Guinea. She most recently lived in [[Pittsburgh]], and had no children.<ref name=obit/>
|-
||| [[Maria von Trapp#Children|Eleonore]] || {{Birth date|1931|5|14}} || {{Death date and age|2021|10|17|1931|5|14|df=y}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/10/21/1048198780/lorli-von-trapp-campbell-the-sound-of-music-family-dies-at-age-90|title = Lorli von Trapp Campbell from the 'Sound of Music' family has died at age 90|newspaper = NPR|date = 21 October 2021}}</ref>|| She married Hugh David Campbell in 1954 and had seven daughters. She lived with her family in [[Waitsfield, Vermont]].<ref name="nytimes1997_tribute"/><ref name=obit/>
|-
| ||[[Johannes von Trapp|Johannes]] || {{Birth date and age|1939|1|17|df=y}}<ref name=nara1/> || || Married 1969 to Lynne Peterson and has one son, Sam von Trapp, and one daughter, Kristina von Trapp-Frame. Johannes managed the family resort in [[Stowe, Vermont]], with his son Sam.<ref name=obit/><ref name=Johannes>{{Cite news|first= Stephanie|last=Clifford|title=Von Trapps Reunited, Without the Singing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/business/25vontrapp.html?_r=1&em|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=24 December 2008|access-date=26 December 2008}}</ref>
|}

==Portrayals==
Trapp has been portrayed in various adaptations of his family's life such as ''[[The Sound of Music]],'' both the 1965 [[The Sound of Music (film)|film]] (played by [[Christopher Plummer]]) and the Broadway musical, as well as two German films, ''[[The Trapp Family]]'' (1956) and ''[[The Trapp Family in America]]'' (1958).<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Sound of Music: The Making of America's Favorite Movie|last=Hirsch|first=Julia Antopol|publisher=Contemporary Books|year=1993|location=Lincolnwood, Illinois|pages=6}}</ref> However, these adaptations often altered the portrayal of the Captain. In real life and in the memoir ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers'', written by his second wife Maria Augusta Trapp, the Captain has been described as being a warm and loving father who was always around.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1998/06/vontrapp199806|title=The Sound of Money|last=Andrews|first=Suzanna|magazine=Vanity Fair|access-date=2017-12-01|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31658799|title=The truth about the Sound of Music family|last=Hidalgo|first=Louise|date=2015-03-01|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-12-01|language=en-GB}}</ref> However, the Captain was portrayed in a more negative light in many adaptations. For instance, in the 1965 film, Georg von Trapp was portrayed as a disciplinary man who always went away and did not care for his children or their feelings at the beginning of the film.<ref>Wise, Robert. ''The Sound of Music''. Twentieth Century Fox, 1965.</ref> BBC Radio presented a different account of the family in October, 2009, in a play by Annie Caulfield called ''The Von Trapps and Me'', focused on Princess Yvonne, "the woman Captain Von Trapp jilted in order to marry Maria."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mz3pq.|title= The "princess" was identified by a London newspaper as Baroness Elsa Schräder.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/3287089/Now-for-the-story-of-the-Baroness-from-The-Sound-of-Music.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/3287089/Now-for-the-story-of-the-Baroness-from-The-Sound-of-Music.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Now for the story of the Baroness from The Sound of Music |author=Tim Walker |editor=Richard Eden |date=30 October 2008 |website=Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Map locations==
{{Reflist|group=Map}}

{{The Story of the Trapp Family Singers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trapp, Georg Johannes Ludwig von}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Austrian anti-fascists]]
[[Category:Austrian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Austrian knights]]
[[Category:Austrian nobility]]
[[Category:Austrian male musicians]]
[[Category:Austrian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Austro-Hungarian Navy officers]]
[[Category:Catholics from Vermont]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Vermont]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss]]
[[Category:Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa]]
[[Category:People from Zadar]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class]]
[[Category:Trapp family|Georg]]
[[Category:U-boat commanders (Austro-Hungarian Navy)]]