Words and photos by David Bowden

(Salzburg Austria October 2026) The recent museum opening of the Sound of Music Salzburg reignites interest in a Hollywood film that has captured global imagination since its 1965 release.

The new Sound of Music Museum in Salzburg gives visitors one more excellent reason to explore the Austrian city that became famous around the globe through the celebrated Hollywood film.

Music has always been important in the city, and for many years people have travelled to Salzburg to connect with the legacy of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born in the city in 1756.

A  poster  from the film is displayed in The Sound of Music Museum along with a new poster for the museum

However, a very different style of music arrived in 1964 when the cast and crew of The Sound of Music came to Salzburg to film the screen version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical that was based on a book written by Maria von Trapp. Her memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, was published in 1949. In it, she tells the true story of her time as governess to the children of Georg Ritter von Trapp and later as his wife. Their departure from Austria before the outbreak of the Second World War and their new life in Stowe, Vermont, inspired two German films, Die Trapp-Familie (1956) and its follow-up, Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika (1958), and later the Academy Award-winning Hollywood production The Sound of Music.

The film debuted in 1965 with stars Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as the captain. It was hugely successful and won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Wise. 

Children performing for the Sound of Music Festivities

At first, Austrians knew very little of the film, and those who did were reluctant to accept the Hollywood interpretation. Many Austrians found it difficult to embrace a dramatised account of a period they would rather leave behind. 

That attitude shifted when visitors, largely from Western countries, started arriving in large numbers to admire scenes that had caught their imagination on screen. Local entrepreneurs eventually recognised the demand and began guiding enthusiastic tourists to the scenic locations where key scenes had been shot.

The von Trapp Family after the moved to the USA

One of the best-known sequences was filmed in the gazebo on the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace not far from the centre of the city. The Sound of Music Museum collection is now displayed in the former Hunting Lodge, Zookeeper's Lodge and Coach House at the entrance to the palace.

The exhibition contains some 500 artefacts and items of memorabilia that cost €1.8 million, including licensing fees. Many came from the Roger Pluijm Collection in the Netherlands. Pluijm, a private collector, amassed a vast collection of film memorabilia over the past few decades and has made many items available to the museum. The exhibition includes original props, recordings, photographs, film posters and material from stage productions by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre and the State Theatre. Audio and visual material from the original recordings featuring Maria von Trapp, together with clips from the Hollywood film, provide valuable insight into how this worldwide cultural phenomenon was created.

One display inside the The Sound of Music museum in Salzburg

At the centre of the Sound of Music Museum are two stories that are closely connected but not the same. There is the factual history of the Von Trapp family and the global Hollywood legend that is The Sound of Music. 

The stories are presented over two floors. The history of the Von Trapp family is on the upper floor, and the Hollywood tale is on the lower floor. It took the Salzburg Museum ten years to complete the project, from initial concept to the official opening on 20 September 2026.

Several of the original child actors attended the opening, as did the granddaughter of Maria von Trapp, Kristina. Kristina also played an important role in establishing the Von Trapp Family Mini Museum on the Zwölferhorn perched high above St Gilgen, not far from Salzburg. Julie Andrews sent a letter from New York wishing the museum every success.

Kristina von Trapp at the Von Trapp Family Museum above St Gilgen

Today a wide range of tours highlight the sites that appear in the film. Visitors can select a walking tour, a coach tour, a bicycle excursion covering 16 km or a private charter, with options that run for a few hours or extend over several days for devoted fans. One of the most successful tour companies is Salzburg Panorama Tours, which also transported the cast and crew around during the days when the film was shot. Museum visitors can also join a complimentary tour during the opening season or pay for a private guided tour.

Salzburg’s Mirabell Gardens were a popular backdrop in The Sound of Music film

Few Hollywood productions have influenced the global image of Salzburg as strongly as The Sound of Music. Since its premiere on 2 March 1965, it has remained one of the most successful musical films ever screened. It has attracted more than one billion admirers worldwide, received five Oscars, including Best Picture, and has enjoyed continued success on television, streaming services, and on musical theatre stages. The fact that it still captivates new generations of filmgoers amazes many observers.

The opening of the Sound of Music Museum should ensure that interest in the film and in Salzburg continues for many decades to come. The museum closes for winter on 1 November and reopens at the start of March 2027, from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. 

Contact: www.soundofmusicsalzburg.at

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