Georg von Trapp | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 4 April 1880 |
| Died | 30 May 1947 (aged 67) Stowe, Vermont, U.S. |
| Resting place | Trapp Family Cemetery, Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, Vermont |
| Nationality | Austrian; Italian |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 10, including Agathe, Maria Franziska, and Johannes |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Austria-Hungary |
| Service | Austro-Hungarian Navy |
| Years of service | 1898–1918 |
| Rank | Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant-commander) |
| Commands | |
| Battles / wars | Boxer Rebellion World War I |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa (1924) |
Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp[a][3][4] (4 April 1880 – 30 May 1947) was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy who became the patriarch of the Trapp Family Singers.
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 12,641 tons.[5] 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 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 German Navy after the Anschluss and emigrated with his family to the United States.[1]
After his death in 1947, the family home in Stowe, Vermont, became the Trapp Family Lodge.[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).
- ^ a b "Tribute to Baron von Trapp Joined by Country He Fled". The New York Times. 14 July 1997. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
- ^ Bush, M. L. (1983). Noble privilege. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780719009136.
... membership of the Order of Maria Theresa could impart the title of baron. In this respect, membership of these orders could socially elevate noblemen.
- ^ Heeresgeschichtliches Museum / Militärhistorisches Institut (Hrsg.): Das Heeresgeschichtliche Museum im Wiener Arsenal. Verlag Militaria, Wien 2016, ISBN 978-3-902551-69-6, S. 164
- ^ "Korvettenkapitän Georg Ritter von Trapp". uboat.net.
- ^ "Von Trapp Family House History". Trapp Family Lodge.
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