A member of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg by birth, she became a member . [85] In the book she published Rudolf's last letter to her, and proclaimed that (in her view) he and Baroness Vetsera had made a suicide pact. [Map 1] Their other children were: Agathe, also born in Pula; Maria Franziska, Werner;[25] Hedwig, and Johanna, all born at the family home the Erlhof in Zell am See;[Map 2] and Martina, born at the Martinsschlssel at Klosterneuburg, for which she was named. The escape from Austria was less dramatic than the musical suggests involving far less Nazi chases, music festivals, and nuns ripping out car parts. Maria did not marry Georg von Trapp because she was in love with him. May not be republished or reproduced online or any other form. [53], In October 1888, Stphanie, worried about the depressive even suicidal tendencies of her husband, went to the Emperor Franz Joseph I to alert him, without succeeding in convincing him. With Hungary not yet undergoing many hardships, Stphanie set up a makeshift dispensary in the Rusovce house, while Elemr accepted a management position in the Austrian Red Cross which took him to Romania and Serbia. In this 1955 photograph, thirteen-year-old Princess Yvonne of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn in Germany is shown tipping back a bottle of Dry Sack sherry as her twelve-year-old brother Prince Alexander sits calmly by, his cigarette nearly finished. At the end of March 1945, the Germans, realizing that their position was threatened by the advancing Red Army, traveled further west. As such, they had to abandon their home, their clothes and most of their possessions as they boarded a train to Italy where they claimed to be going hiking. Each time, however, the real Baroness Schraeder wanted to delay things a little. As guardian of his 5-year-old granddaughter Elisabeth Marie, the Emperor demanded that Stephanie remain with her child. She bore Franz Joseph three children during the first four years of their marriage, but only two Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduchess Giselasurvived past infancy. Perhaps the largest departure from history was that Maria took up her position in 1928, a decade before the setting of the musical. Pannonhalma Archabbey. So instead, were just going to have a casual look at the history that surrounds one of the most famous musicals of all time. Princess Manni was born in Salzburg in 1919, the daughter of Friedrich Baron Mayr-Melnhof and his wife Maria Anna Countess von Meran. However, in 1922, Stphanie was delighted to receive her two eldest grandsons, Franz Joseph and Ernst Weriand of Windisch-Graetz. After meeting the 15-year-old Princess Stphanie, he wrote to his mother that "[he had] found what [he] sought", noting that she was "pretty, good, [and] clever". Instead of the fictional Max Detweiler, pushy music promoter, the von Trapps' priest, the Reverend Franz Wasner, acted as their musical director for over 20 years. Their first child was Rupert,[24] born on 1 November 1911 at Pula while the couple were living at Pina Budicina 11. E Maria's physician advised that she seek a different lifestyle, and it just so happened that the Reverend Mother had received a request from a certain naval officer for an in-home tutor for his sickly daughter. [3] In 1910 he was given command of the newly constructed SMU-6. So the day he had planned on proposing to Yvonne, he instead broke off their relationship with intentions of marrying Maria. Knowing that refusal will put the entire family in danger, they resolve to escape to Switzerland and the safety of neutrality. [76], When Stphanie learned of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, she was convinced that the death of the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne was desired by Emperor Franz Joseph I because the deceased had dared to stand up to him. If we ignore the ten year difference between when the Trapp children met Maria for the first time, their names and ages were as follows. [3] They had five children:[2], Marianne, Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. Her relatives prepared her for death. Leopold nourished the hope of having a second son and therefore resumed sexual relations with the Queen; but, after a miscarriage in March 1871,[8] another daughter was born on 30 July 1872: Clmentine, the last child of the royal couple. The preparations for a princely birth obeyed protocol: prayers in churches and the exhibition of the Blessed Sacrament in the churches of the imperial palaces. Doctors, fearing syphilis, used the approaches then used to treat the latter, namely opium, cognac, morphine, as well as mercury which, taken at too high a dose, can lead to psychological consequences. While I was preparing this piece, the question I was asked most by the people around me was is Maria von Trapp a real person? Indeed, she is! She resides in Oregon where she sews, designs costumes, and spends time with her family. In reality the Captain, our father, was gentle, kind, and sensitive.. The story is set in 1938 and follows Maria, a novice at an Austrian convent who is hired as a governess for the seven children of Captain Georg von Trapp. We always forget about Helene: it's much easier to remember an Empress than a Princess of Thurn and Taxis. [63], For her part, Stphanie planned to marry an aristocrat: Count Elemr Lnyay de Nagy-Lnya et Vsros-Namny, a Hungarian nobleman of lower rank, of Protestant faith, and one year older than her. [57], After Rudolf's death, Stphanie had only one thought: to leave Vienna and the heavy atmosphere of the court. [35], Trapp has been portrayed in various adaptations of his family's life such as The Sound of Music, both the 1965 film and the Broadway musical, as well as two German films, The Trapp Family (1956) and The Trapp Family in America (1958). In 1944, she disinherited her daughter, who had divorced to live with a socialist deputy and whom she had not seen since 1925. . Once in Italy, they contacted the agent and requested fare to America,[28] first traveling to London, before sailing to the United States for their first concert tour. In his diary, a servant recalled walking in on her mid-exercise, as recorded in medical historian Louise Foxcrofts Calories and Corsets: A History of Dieting Over 2,000 Years: When I saw her, she was just raising herself on the hand-rings. The Queen therefore never left her son's bedside. Trapp sought to help a friend in the banking business, Auguste Caroline Lammer (18851937), so he withdrew most of his money from London and deposited it in an Austrian bank. She was buried in the crypt of Pannonhalma Archabbey. Stphanie died of a stroke in the abbey later the same year. Maria and Georg married in 1927, 11 years before the family left Austria, not right before the Nazi takeover of Austria. The family which by now included another daughter, while Maria was pregnant with her third child, had to leave under the pretence that they were simply going out for a short trip. After all, whats there to like about her? Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp (4 April 1880 - 30 May 1947) was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy who later became the patriarch of the Trapp Family Singers.Trapp was the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of World War I, sinking 11 Allied merchant ships totaling 47,653 GRT and two Allied warships displacing a total of 12,641 tons. I see myself constrained to limit myself to my own notes, as well as to my personal memories, in which your contributions and your modifications do not find their place". . On the other hand, in the autumn, Edmund Veesenmayer, SS Brigadefhrer, and commander of the city of Budapest, took up quarters in Rusovce accompanied by a large staff. In 1938 the Third Reich annexed Austria as part of the Anschluss. Stphanie received a negative response from Leopold II: "My father answered me in the severest and harshest terms that he refused me his consent. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. In 1879 he had moved to Prague Castle and assumed command of an infantry regiment, a post he liked very much. He was offered a commission in the German Navy, a tempting proposition, but decided to decline the offer, being opposed to Nazi ideology. Another of Sisis outlets was writing poetry, recounts Hamann, and she often vented her frustrations and regrets in excerpts such as this: Oh, had I but never left the pathThat would have led me to freedomOh, that on the broad avenuesOf vanity I had never strayedI have awakened in a dungeonWith chains on my hands. A scene which was very dear to Maria von Trapp, the skyline of Salzburg with the red dome of Nonnberg Abbey rising above it. The children did not sing the German anthem when required of them, the older children who were now adults refrained from the Nazi salute, and they had reservations about living under Nazi policies which conflicted with their religion. Her watercolors painted in Lacroma were published as an album in 1892. I saw the tears trickling down the faces of the men., The empress was fascinated with new innovations in the treatment of the insane, and even toyed with the idea of opening her own psychiatric hospital. The family received permission to set up a chapel within the villa which in turn encouraged their choral singing. [11] He also rejected his family for his mistresses having so many scandalous liaisons that he was known to his subjects as Le Roi des Belges et des Belles (The King of the Belgians and of the Beauties). Yvonne at an event hosted by the AAOE. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration The real Georg von Trapp encouraged his children in all things and was in no way distant from them. Their understanding was real; Stphanie described Rudolf as "a model husband" and added that they understood each other admirably, which made her happy. By the time Maria arrived on the scene, both von Trapp and Princess Yvonne were planning towards an imminent marriage, though they were not yet officially engaged. A few months later, in September, while staying in London, Stphanie learned of the death of her mother, Queen Marie Henriette, who was living withdrawn from the Belgian court. Despite her title, its quite difficult to trace who exactly Princess Yvonne was but we can assume she was of minor German or Austrian nobility, though Agathe von Trapp believed her to be one of her mothers cousins. While the loss of money devastated the family, they still had their physical goods. The family were increasingly concerned by the Nazi policies and were known from the start for their objections. When he lost most of his wealth in the Great Depression, the family turned to singing as a way of earning a livelihood. Stphanie had a high idea of her rank and strove to fully assume the role conferred on her by her title, as the Empress had fled Vienna to travel frequently through Europe. Generously, Emperor Franz Joseph I showered the young mother and her family with gifts. She arrives to find a stern and unyielding man keeping his home as he would one of his ships. Philippe Boesmans's opera, commissioned by the Paris Opera in 2008, stands alone: both sordid and droll, of unexpected cruelty but also irresistibly seductive, it reveals all the . Martina - Born 1921. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. He was friendly with Princess Louise of Belgium, who had encouraged him to marry her younger sister. The inclusion of the Captains whistle was also a point of consternation for the family. [6] 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 film adaptation directed by Robert Wise (1965). Trapp was the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of World War I,[b] sinking 11 Allied merchant ships totaling 47,653 GRT and two Allied warships displacing a total of 12,641 tons. [3] In 1902, he passed the final officer's examination, and was commissioned a Fregattenleutnant (frigate lieutenant, equivalent to sub-lieutenant) in May 1903. The latter considered that the manuscript was not complete enough and that its publication would be detrimental to the author. Maria was specifically chosen because she physically struggled with life at the abbey. However, Austria-Hungary's defeat in World War I also led to the Empire's collapse. Despite the children calling her Aunt there was no warmth from her and she revealed to Maria during their first conversation that once her engagement to their father had been formalised, she would have all seven children sent off to boarding schools. Some sources incorrectly credit Zdenko Hudeek with being the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of the war. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Princesses of Austria, including female members of the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg and its successor the House of Habsburg-Lorraine who usually held the higher title of Archduchess . Maria Von Trapp mentioned Yvonne in her book, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers," and it's been written that Georg proposed to Yvonne several times, but she never accepted. [9] He commanded U-6 until 1913. She married in Vienna on 10 May 1881, Crown Prince Rudolf, son and heir of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. In the severe decor of the study room, it was usually too rudimentary that we applied ourselves to history, geography, literature, mathematics; a preponderant place being left to the decorative arts: painting, drawing, music, as well as needlework". [56] To Stphanie, Rudolf had left an undated letter: "Dear Stphanie, you are delivered from my fatal presence; be happy in your destiny. The collaboration was, however, abruptly interrupted in 1933 by Stphanie, who wrote to Corti: "For the sake of the imperial family, I decided to give up publishing my memoirs in the form that had been initially planned []. They leave under the cover of darkness but gasp! [36], After the wedding night, which Stphanie in her private letters revealed to her sister to have been a violent event by Rudolf, already mentally unstable, the couple honeymooned at Laxenburg outside the capital. This was how Stphanie discovered the features of the one who would become her fianc. The church was so crowded that the wedding procession was hampered in its progress. The Trapp Family founded the Trapp Family Austrian Relief, Inc.; the priest Franz Wasner, their pre-war friend, became its treasurer. They had one child, Archduchess Elisabeth Marie. [4], In her memoirs, Stphanie wrote: "The first event that was deeply engraved in my memory was the death of this beloved brother []. [9], After living for a short time in Merion, Pennsylvania, where their youngest child, Johannes, was born, the family settled in Stowe, Vermont, in 1941. Yvonne, is a fiercely family orientated person and speaks so terribly highly of all of her family. In The Sound of Music, the Captain was portrayed as stern, distant, and unyielding. 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). Whatever the real truth behind the family history, it is an inspiring story and well worth retelling. He conducted nine combat patrols in U-5, and sank two enemy warships. With Romy Schneider, Karlheinz Bhm, Magda Schneider, Uta Franz. As Maria's original pupil recovered, she became governess to all seven Trapp children and encouraged them in sports, handiwork, and, of course, music. The twenty-one year old Maria was a school teacher at Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg. The neoclassical-style building is located in an area of over 2,400 hectares, consisting of an English-style park, planted with purple beeches, silver fir trees and multiple decorative species, which extends over both banks of the Danube. His condition deteriorated rapidly: the doctor diagnosed acute pericarditis. It costs nothing to lie or act. Your mother and I are all in favor of this marriage. However, in May, Stphanie (suffering from heart disease) and her husband left their residence to take refuge in the Pannonhalma Archabbey, protected by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Leopold II and Marie Henriette hoped to marry their second daughter to a reigning sovereign or a crown prince. Kissing you with all my heart, your Rudolf who loves you". [8], In 1894, aged fourteen, Trapp followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy, entering the naval academy at Fiume (now Rijeka). Princess Stphanie was the second daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium and Marie Henriette of Austria. The preparations for the wedding filled King Leopold II with pride. By all accounts they were a very warm family and von Trapp maintained close relationships with his deceased wifes family so that his children would know them. [5] His first wife Agathe Whitehead died of scarlet fever in 1922, leaving behind seven children. To keep refusing would inevitably land them in one of the many concentration camps theyd been hearing about, regardless of their citizenship. Sources conflict on whether the marriage took place in January 1911 or January 1912. ; Patents a Combination of Chafing Dish and Lamp -- To be Put on Market", "Bruxelles Extension sud Place Stphanie", "Les photos du tunnel Stphanie lors de sa construction", "Discovery of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie: A narrative of count Samuel Teleki's exploring & hunting expedition in eastern and equatorial Africa in 1887 & 1888", Hof- und Staats-Handbuch der sterreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, "Agraciamentos Portugueses Aos Prncipes da Casa Saxe-Coburgo-Gota", "Real orden de Damas Nobles de la Reina Maria Luisa", Josphine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Princess Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by birth, German Empress Victoria, Queen of Prussia, Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse and by Rhine, Helena, Princess Christian of Scheswig-Holstein, Clotilde, Archduchess Joseph Karl of Austria, Amalie, Duchess Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria, Louise, Princess Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Kohry, Josphine Caroline, Princess Karl Anton of Hohenzollern, Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, Alexandra, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Dorothea, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, Princess Sibylla, Duchess of Vsterbotten, Princess Teresa Cristina, Baroness Taxis of Bordogna and Valnigra, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Countess Palatine Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, Princess Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick-Lneburg, Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbttel, Princess Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia, Princess Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria, Princess Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies, Princess Maria Immaculata of the Two Sicilies, Princess Maria Cristina of the Two Sicilies, Princess Maria of Lwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, Freiin Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kszon et Imprfalva, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Princess_Stphanie_of_Belgium&oldid=1140091676, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Stphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte. 1919, the daughter of King Leopold II and Marie Henriette of Austria the. 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