Maria von Trapp Thrilled by Himmler’s Renovating Her Villa in Salzburg

TRAPP, MARIA VON. (1905-1987). Matriarch of the Austrian family of singers immortalized in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. ALS. (“Baroness von Trapp”). 2pp. Small 4to. N.p., June 16, 1946. On a single sheet of Trapp Family Singers stationery. To ALIX WILLIAMSON (1916-2001), the Trapp Family Singer’s publicist.



“The two weeks following your departure were perhaps the hardest of my life. The captain came back from Boston entirely exhausted, and the two doctors had told him more than they should have. He was so depressed and he, in a way, waited for his end. Then I called for a famous heart specialist. He came and his news were [sic.] much better. The captain should not work right now, not tire himself, not smoke (!), but it is not a weakness of the heart muscle, only fatigue. If he takes good care of himself, everything can be all right again. That was a heavenly message for all of us. We started to breathe again. During all those weeks I only did the absolute necessary outside his room, but spent all my time with him. I hardly wrote a letter. Of course no chapter. But now I am working again and I want you not to loose [sic] hope.



Did you do anything with the chapters you took along?



How about my article for the N.Y. Times??



And now listen – what exciting news:



Our boys have been in Salzburg and in our house outside of the city. You now [sic] what? Himmler himself had confiscated it for himself and made the S.S. Headquarters there. Hitler slept there, when in Salzb[ur]g. Himmler renovated it completely, built $100,000 – worth in it: a new heating system, new freezing unit, marble window sills and luxurious bathrooms; his own cable line to Berlin, Munich and Berchtesgaden! His own electric plant in our park; seven little houses for his bodyguard, also in sun park; an electrically heated greenhouse etc etc etc. So the estate has gained in value tremendously and all this was done by our worst enemy! Now it is under U.S. protection as U.S. property and American officers are stationed there. It all belongs to us and the State Dep. Is interested in renting it! All my dreams become true!



Please make a story and publish it with the picture of the house.



The camp is not going as well as it should. Please try some more publicity! In two weeks it has started already and we only have 298 so far. We need 600 in all this Summer!!!



The story of Himmler and the house will make the last chapter in the book. Much love…”



The Sound of Music tells the true story of a young nun, Maria Augusta Kutschera, hired to tutor the motherless von Trapp children, who eventually marries their widowed father, retired naval hero Baron Georg von Trapp (“The Captain,” 1880-1947). However, that is only the beginning of the Trapp family story. In 1935, the family lost most of its wealth in an Austrian bank failure and rented out rooms in their villa and, at the suggestion of Soprano Lotte Lehman, began performing publicly. After Adolph Hitler’s (1889-1945) 1938 invasion of Austria, Georg was pressured to join the German Navy and the family forced to sing for Hitler’s birthday. Opposed to Nazi ideology, the Von Trapps fled their native land, leaving everything behind, escaping over the Alps into Italy. Penniless refugees, they made a living by singing. Eventually they brought their music to the U.S. and settled on a farm in Stowe, Vermont, which reminded them of Austria. The farm later became a music camp run by Maria, discussed in our letter, and then a lodge, still operating today. The family continued to tour for more than 20 years.



The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, written by Maria and published in 1949 inspired Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, which debuted on Broadway ten years later, capturing the heart of America and rocketing the family to the height of fame.



Our letter also discusses the 22-room 1863 villa Georg purchased in the Salzburg suburb of Aigen in 1924 and which Nazi Reichsführer and Holocaust architect Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) occupied as a summer residence during World War II, installing an underground bunker and SS officers barracks on the grounds as well as, according to our letter, a cable line to the Bavarian alpine village of Berchtesgaden where Hitler had his summer home and which served as an outpost of the Imperial Chancellery. The von Trapp’s ownership of the building was restored after the war, but they remained in the United States and sold the property to a religious organization. The villa is now operated as a hotel. Georg, a heavy smoker, died less than a year after our letter from lung cancer.



Pencil notes at the bottom margin of our letter are likely from Alix Williamson and likely relate to details of the family’s story:



“1936 Belvedere Palace”

“April 8th [crossed out]”

“May material”

“Dobbiaco, Italy”

“New Austrian border”

“7 yrs.”

“85th … div – 9th Army”

“… Payne best”



Written on recto and verso, slight folding and in fine condition. With a 3½ pp. carbon copy (in poor condition) of a press release authored by Alix Williamson.