Trapp Family Lodge history

Werner von Trapp was born in Zell am See, Austria in 1915, the fourth child and second son of Captain Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead.

Maria never returned to the convent and married the Captain on November 26, 1927.

He sang tenor with his family’s choir, The Trapp Family Singers, who won great acclaim throughout Europe after their debut in 1935.

She subsequently married him, the family became a successful troupe of choristers and in 1938 fled Hitler-annexed Austria rather than succumb to Nazi orders commissioning Baron von Trapp, who was a submarine commander and captain in the Austrian Navy in World War I, to serve in the German Navy.

The Trapp Family Singers performed at Middlebury College in November 1939, a year after they left Austria.

Werner joined the United States Army in 1943 and served in Europe with the ski troops as part of the 10th Mountain Division.

That 1944 "vacation" (as the Free Press article called it) allowed the family to finish building their Stowe home and to do some sugaring.

The house they live in was called "Cor Unum" which means "One heart". On May 30th, 1947, Georg Ritter von Trapp passed away in Stowe.

In the summer of 1950, they began welcoming guests to a rustic, 27-room family home/lodge.

They arrived as refugees in New York where they quickly became popular with concert audiences, performing in the United States and 30 other countries until 1956.

Meanwhile, the family, which gave its last concert in 1957, dispersed.

The ongoing debate around development and natural preservation in Vermont was alive and well in 1967 when Johannes von Trapp took down all signs advertising the Trapp Family Lodge.

The von Trapp family built a new hotel in 1982 that ranked among "Vermont's most expensive development projects," according the Burlington Free Press.

Guest house ownership assures accommodations at your favorite place when you want it.On March 28th, 1987, Maria Augusta von Trapp passed away in Stowe.

It received an Academy Award for “Best Picture of the Year.” The film is a worldwide favorite, and the family even received medals of honor from the Salzburg government in 1998 because of the increase in tourism caused by the movie.