Why Germans & Austrians have NEVER HEARD of "The Sound of Music" | Feli from Germany

[@FelifromGermany]

How popular is The Sound of Music in YOUR country? 🤔 🎄Use code FELI24 at europeandeli.com/ to get 10% off your entire order and enjoy German Christmas vibes with the best German treats and decorations!

[@encarn]

I think it has died off a bit in the U.S.

[@DWLeggette]

I'm from Canada. My grandmother had it on VHS and used to rewatch it every now and then. I've seen bits and pieces of it, but I don't think I've ever sat and watched the whole thing.

[@ulrichhartmann4585]

I think it also played a role that the era of 'Heimatfilm' was more or less over in 1965.

[@VladislavBabbitt]

It is still quite popular in Canada. They show it on TV every Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve they often show "It's a wonderful life" or the original "Miracle on 34th Street".

[@Mr.Pritchard]

UK - Everyone has heard of it but hardly anyone has watched it. Really weird.

[@wolkewolke7704]

I am from Salzburg, 64 years ... when I saw that movie it was like a time travel back to the time when I was a kid ... the same streets, the same cars ... we drove the same streets on sundays. Pure nostalgia 😁🥰

[@johnlabus7359]

That's an interesting perspective on the film. It was literally filmed in your town when you were a small child. That's actually a really nice gift to have those places in time memorialized for you!

[@Hebrews123]

I’m first generation German American my mom is from is from Germany I spent every summer in Germany. I’m 60 born in 1965. Of course we absolutely loved sound of music saw it in America and Berlin

[@johnbattle7518]

I'm getting up there, and nostalgia is like a drug after a while. I'm glad to read that it had that effect on you.

[@JBG1968]

I’ll be in Salzburg on Tuesday . See you soon . lol

[@quincekreb6798]

Salzburg is a very wonderful city with beautiful surroundings!!

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

No drones back then, Imagine being Julie Andrews standing & spinning in a meadow, then this huge copter & camera comes flying over your head. She said it was actually terrifying.

[@dragonpullman23]

She says the wind caused by the helicopter during the filming of that scene frequently caused her to lose balance and fall down.

[@DrVVVinK]

@@dragonpullman23 I would love to see the bloopers.

[@patrickgomes2213]

And that scene was filmed on the German side of the border.

[@PB4Y2]

The producers and director had scouted out a hilltop to shoot that scene and found one nearby with good views and tall willowy grass. They arranged with the owner to rent the field and were set to return sometime later to shoot the scene. But on the scheduled day, with all the crew ready to go, they arrived to find a very proud farmer/owner who had mowed the field to help them out, not realizing that the tall grass was what they wanted. They had to scramble to find another site to shoot that scene.

[@joeelliott2157]

Julie Andrews, the original 'Flying Nun.'

[@debpabetz9730]

My oma and opa immigrated to the US in 1923 from Vienna. When the Sound of Music came out in the 1960s, we all went to see it together, and afterwards they told us about worrying about their siblings left behind during the War.

[@VladislavBabbitt]

Yes, I would imagine.

[@LostInThe0zone]

Yes, I can imagine that. I hope the family stories turned out well.

[@tiffanygrever8092]

Some of my distance family came from the baden area I was googling the town that my three great grandmother came from and in one of the pics it had the town covered in Nazi flags. I know that I can't judge but it was a little sad.

[@CopyKatnj]

My Grandfather left Graz in 1917, when this movie came out he brought all of us in the family to the movie theater to watch this movie. He use to tell me stories of his brothers and how his Austrian family lost everything during WWII including their lives.

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

​​@@tiffanygrever8092 there you can see how fascism works. Did all people like it? Not at all, but like in Eastern Germany after ww2 under the Soviets they had no choice. The damn "mustche man hail" followers would put everybody in concentration camps who openly disagreed. My grandfather who owned a jewelry store in Linz lived next door to the mother of Eichmann. He hated the Nazis. My young grandmother, his third wife, feared every day that they would come and abduct him. He probably just survived his stubbornness because Eichmann liked my uncle so much and wanted him in the SS. "You won't get my son!" After the war he even threw a high ranking US officer out of his store, because he came in with chewing gum in his mouth demanding to repair his wrist watch which he threw him on the counter. My grandfather died in 49 of old age. During the war - though my grandmother didn't have much - she tried to help others by buying their valuables for a fair price. I will never forget when my father told me how much she cried when the trucks came and many of her neighbours were taken away never to be seen again. She always wanted to give them their jewels back for the same price she paid. She never got the chance. My family lost everything in ww2.

[@dalebuck7168]

My wife of 57 years and I saw the Sound of Music on our first date, in 1965. It had just opened and, as you can imagine, it has been one of our most cherished memories. We also lived in Buedingen, (West Germany) for 12 years and I can remember talking with German friends and saying our first date was to see the movie, and them not knowing what movie we were talking about. Great commentary as always...

[@peteraschaffenburg1]

They probably knew the movie under it´s German name; “Meine Lieder - meine Träume”. ;-) An awfully German dubbed version.

[@nutdiablo]

I am Thai, born and raised in Thailand and The Sound of Music is huge here in the period of its lunch, but now it fades away. For me it was the only type of entertainment when I was a child. It was a VHS tape, and I watched it till it broke, and I have to fix it otherwise I will have nothing to see. And now I am an engineer because of it, and I enjoy musicals very much.

[@lefty-bw1zp]

My son was fascinated with the film. So fascinated, in fact, that he studied German in Jr. high school, high school, and majored in German at the University. This is despite the fact that we lived in southern Arizona.

[@karenbertke3149]

That's okay... My dad used to say, our family is strictly of Germanic descent, but I have three Irish daughters. We loved Irish music and culture through our teens and twenties...

[@raymondmartin6737]

Very good, I grew up with a Mother from Switzerland, and my Father from Germany, so here in the US I grew up learning German, and later 3 years, 20 credits in college Being elderly, have been an Amateur Radio operator for over 60 years, so I sometimes, speak German with them over there, and met many German tourists on cruises, and going back to Europe and Germany. 😊

[@animehuntress9018]

Grew up in SoCal and took French and German. I know enough Spanish to get by (Retail spanish anyways, lol) and have no plans to travel to a Spanish speaking country (Maybe a couple of Spain's islands but honestly the Greek Islands trump that so probably not) but want to visit a few countries that speak German and French as their main languages so... no point in learning Spanish. Sounds like your son wants to go to Germany, makes sense to me, lol!

[@mark96813]

A lot of gay sons loved that movie. I sure did at 10 years old

[@catw6998]

Lucky. When I was going thru high school, I wanted to take German too. Since my Mom’s side was German. My Grandfather taught me (I was real young) to count in German. I think I can get to 15 still. Know some words - both naughty & nice, [shhh, don’t tell Santa ;) lol]. Anyways, Guidance Counselors, sheesh. Who do they think they are! Got talked into taking Spanish. Maybe there was some quota they had to make?

[@yankong8290]

I am Chinese born in the 70's. The Sound of Music was one the few original movies in English available to middle schools and highschools. It was used in English classes and many songs and dances from the movie were reinacted by students. I loved it eversince. I actually read Maria's book in Chinese, borrowed from my school library, so I knew the real story was different. I moved to the US in the 90's, I have bought CD, DVD and Bluray discs of all kinds of special editions. I always watch when it plays on TV. I can sing along every song. I made a short trip to Vienna in 2001, really wanted to visit Salzburg, but did not have time. I think I was more obssessed with Sissi at the time. Still love Sound of Music with all criticism taken into account.

[@marythompson558]

The fact that Chinese people in the 70s or 80s saw Sound of Music just freaks me out. Shows how little we knew about what really went on in your country! But then, nobody likes Nazis, so that might be part of it.

[@yankong8290]

@marythompson558 I saw it in the 80's in China. I watched Disney cartoons and a movie from 20th Centry Fox on the Chinese Central Television Station every Sunday evening. There were great desire to learn about the outside world.

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

You, sir, are a true fan ❤️🇦🇹❤️

[@TheGeoDaddy]

Weeell, there’s actually not a lot of love lost between Austrians and Germans 😏 just try and say “tschuss” to an Austrian (my parents were from Austria and Hungary) I’ll say this much, my mother - who escaped from Hungary to Austria in ‘56 - would weep watching the movie from the moment the Family realized they had to leave their Homeland to live… not as a matter of choice but survival.

[@Kalysta]

For people in America, the Von Trapp family still owns an inn in the mountains of Vermont that is beautiful. I believe one of Maria's youngest children is still there, and some of the grandkids still run it. It's a great place to stay if you're even in Vermont!

[@dj3352]

Yes , in Stowe. Supposedly Maria said the mountains reminded her of Austria. I believe the Trapp family escaped Austria by boarding a train, no mountain trek.

[@JohnMunsonjr]

Yes, it is in Stowe, VT and Maria's youngest child Johannes, who is now 85, who is the only one of the 3 children Maria had with George who is still alive, runs the Trapp Family Lodge with his children and grandchildren. It is a great ski lodge as well in the winter and great for hiking in the summer!

[@annwood6812]

@@dj3352 Yes, the train tracks are quite close to their house. I walked past the Von Trapp home frequently on my semester abroad in nearby Elsbethen. The house is yellow (or was). I loved seeing all the SOM locations.

[@LadyIarConnacht]

My husband and I went there with all our employees to lay the carpet in the (then) new condos. The lodge and their home were nearby, and we saw Maria out in the garden being pushed in a wheelchair by her nurse.

[@marythompson558]

A few years back, maybe a decade, I saw three young girls singing, who were the latest iteration of the Von Trapp family singers.

[@MichaEl-rh1kv]

I'm a bit older than you, Feli, and I remember at least one of the Trapp family movies (I don't however remember which) been broadcasted sometime in the Sunday afternoon TV program during my childhood (at a time as they did sometimes still broadcast replays of old black & white movies). For those who wonder how Georg Ludwig Trapp could be a citizen of landlocked Austria and a navy officer: Before 1918 he was Ritter Georg Ludwig von Trapp (Ritter = knight), born 1880 in Zadar (Dalmatia / Croatia), joined the Austrian Navy in the Mediterranean in 1898 (after 4 years in naval academy), became 1910 a submarine commander and married in 1911 a daughter of British torpedo manufacturer Robert Whitehead. During WW I he commanded the Austrian torpedo boat 52, then again a submarine (sinking a French armored cruiser and an Italian submarine). After the war he owned for some time two shipping companies.

[@markrossow6303]

t.y.

[@davidlium9338]

Thank you for explaining this.

[@MartijnVos]

Maybe Germans don't know the movie, but just outside the German-speaking region, in Netherland, it was incredibly popular. As a kid, I grew up with the Dutch versions of these songs (despite the Dutch aversion to dubbing).

[@SebMoellerM]

As a person who has worked most of my adult life in Danish nursing homes, I can confidently say this: The Sound Of Music was a big hit in Denmark! It and the Danish film Sommer I Tyrol are the main reason my grandparents’ generation was obsessed with Austria as a travel destination

[@piercebunge4297]

I suppose Denmark didn't really ever see combat. Surrendered in 6 hours, smart decision.

[@SebMoellerM]

@ not true. The military action was over quickly, sure, but the ripples of the occupation were still felt in the 90’s, when I was a child. Keep in mind that for the occupied countries, the atrocities of WW2 didn’t stop when the government surrendered. The 9th of April is still marked on our calendars as “Occupation Day”

[@jmer9126]

Some Danish troops were killed. The occupation was brutal as almost all crops and livestock were taken by the German army.

[@lindaeklund4582]

I'm from Sweden and grew up watching Sound of music every christmas break from school. It is still aired around christmas and new years every year.

[@markrossow6303]

C00L.

[@TheGeoDaddy]

Weeell, there’s actually not a lot of love lost between Austrians and Germans 😏 just try and say “tschuss” to an Austrian (my parents were from Austria and Hungary) I’ll say this much, my mother - who escaped from Hungary to Austria in ‘56 - would weep watching the movie from the moment the Family realized they had to leave their Homeland to live… not as a matter of choice but survival.

[@ulrikemesserschmidt5018]

I'm Austrian, 68 years old and very much into (classical) music. In 1985 we had some young guests from the US, one of them playing the violin. As a "thank you" to our familiy the young lady played "Edelweiss", all the young Americans sung and they wanted us to join their song. But we never had heard it before... Feli, your summary on the topic was excellent. Uli, Graz (Austria)

[@johnbattle7518]

It's crazy how countries interpret other countries' cultures. There's a video on KZbin about what Europeans call American food you find at grocery stores, and we either never heard of that food, don't eat it, or would not combine the foods put together. In Japan, there's a misconception that we eat KFC during Christmas.

[@timmmahhhh]

​@@johnbattle7518thanks for your comment. Yes after a couple of videos I was convinced that most everyone in Japan eats KFC on Christmas Day. Thanks for setting the record straight.

[@GregorVonKallahan]

Very interesting, Feli. You've obviously done your homework.

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

​@@johnbattle7518What are you talking about?

[@DrVVVinK]

@@johnbattle7518 I grew up Jewish in the north east. I ate Chinese food during Christmas. Still do,. and watch Home Alone.

[@cliffjones8809]

Just as a bit of trivia, when Sound of Music came out, there were no downloaded or streamed movies, no video rentals or purchases available. You went to see a movie in the theatre, and if you missed it when it was in theatres, you had to wait, possible a few years, until the movie would show on network television. Also, multiplex theatres didn't much exist. Sound of Music was still playing in its continuous first run as much as 5 years later.

[@GA-1st]

Yep. It's amazing out perspective has changed with the advent of cable, home video and now streaming. It was a big deal when a theatrical release would make it to network television! Of course, they were always "edited for television" and shown in "pan and scan" and mono sound.

[@ericjanssen394]

And it was in some city theaters for FOUR YEARS. It became the all-time #1 box office hit, drove us crazy (remember when we wanted to get Titanic out of theaters?), and prompted inappropriate jokes about Julie Andrews’ G-rated typecasting and the “Happy Nazi musical”. In 1967, one reporter asked Mel Brooks on his set what he was working on, and Mel ad-libbed “I’m working on a musical, ‘Springtime For Hitler, a musical romp with Adolf & Eva’…”

[@jimcrawford3221]

It was only the second movie I had ever seen that had an intermission. Gone With The Wind was the first. I had wished there was an intermission a few decades later when I saw Titanic.

[@GA-1st]

@@jimcrawford3221 I have to assume you saw a GWTW re-release! Trivia: The original release of "Jaws" in '75 had an intermission.

[@maremacd]

It had a resurgence in popularity in the mid 70s. I saw it as a kid then in the theater.

[@cleidemorimura411]

I grew up with this movie, born and raised in Brazil for the first 27 years of my life…and it was on my bucket list to go visit Austria and take the tour of the movie. I finally did it this year. I visited Munich first, and took a train to Salzburg just to take the tour. The weather wasn’t very pleasant since it was raining most of the time, but I got to see the church where Maria wed, where the do, re, mi song was filmed…it was a trip that I’ll remember for a long time.❤😊

[@cocacolaa1000]

Feli, you missed a great opportunity, at the start of your explanation, to sing "let's start from the very beginning!"

[@ajknaup3530]

That would have been truely cute & delightful! Perhaps Feli ought to add you as a script consultant to her production team.

[@edifice2773]

That would be a very good place to start...

[@peteraschaffenburg1]

I disliked hearing her talk. Had to stop watching after 6 minutes because her voice is nauseating. God forbid she would sing!

[@donaldfoley7581]

I expect she chose that phrase deliberately.

[@patrickhanft]

I (as a German) find it quite funny that of all people, it was Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of one of the most “American” musicals par excellence, who got me (not personally of course) to watch “The Sound of Music”. And it was because he told in an interview about how on a family trip to Austria, his father had even hired a film crew to record the family re-enacting the most iconic moments of the movie. The scenes shown were really funny. So I thought, if it's such a huge thing for an American of Puerto Rican descent whose musical about American history fascinates me so much, maybe I need to see this “European” story that he likes so much after all.

[@shahx1010]

What!?! That's so funny! Would love to see clips!

[@ocularpatdown]

@@shahx1010same

[@kathleenk2381]

I’m an American who has seen the movie countless times. My mother was from München (Unterföhring). We lived in Germany when I was a child. We frequently visited the Alps in Germany as well as Austria. I watch the movie mainly for the scenery now. It brings back such wonderful memories. The last time I was in Austria I took the Sound of Music bus tour. As you said, the scenery is spectacular and well worth the price of admission.

[@applescruff88]

Funny timing that you post this now. I'm an American married to a German, and we recently just got back from visiting his family. While there, we went to Salzburg for a day and did the Sound of Music bus tour. It was funny when his fam, old friends, neighbors would ask what we were planning to do while visiting. Every time Sound of Music tour was mentioned, no one knew about the film. Probably should have mentioned it by it's German title. My husband groans every time he hears "schnitzel with noodles". 😂

[@judithstrachan9399]

Once I discovered schnitzel, I remember thinking noodles were an odd food to pair with it.

[@robindemeyer8960]

I'm a Belgian, the sound of music is actually one of the many old movies that I have never seen because everytime they're on tv, my parents or friends will say oh no not that movie again and switch channels.

[@leza4453]

😂

[@marcellaacone7085]

Oh, so sad! But, someway, you're lucky: if there was someone who loved that movie, he or she would've talked over it all time, repeating and spoiling everything. It's a bit long and there are lots of songs, but if you can find your version of this movie, in spite of all the flaws it has got, you will like it. 🙂

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

😂😂 totally relatable. I would like your family. edit: I am a kid of the 80s and I had just seen "Das Boot" when my dad showed me a movie about his birthplace. I was really disappointed when there was not one single submarine scene in "Sound of music" 😂

[@Timmhermans]

Well, there will be another chance this year, one channel will play it like they play home alone every year 😂

[@MK-qh8nq]

Both of my grandparents are Austrians from Salzkammergut that immigrated to the US in 1960. I am not sure if they saw the original German Von Trapp movies, but when they saw the Sound of Music in theaters in 1965, they were suprised and proud that their Heimat was shown on a big Hollywood production. In fact, in one of the opening shots a helicopter flies over Wolfgangsee where my parents had their wedding reception. For my Oma and Opa, the war was extremely painful. My great-grandfather (who was disabled), was drafted as a last resort to the Eastern Front only to be captured and die in a camp. My Opa had to flee to Austria from Gottschee in Slovenia where all their villages were destroyed.

[@christoffellner84]

A relative of mine also immigrated to the States from the Salzkammergut. I will have to ask him if he ever heard about the film. I never saw besides a Cameo in "Postman" with Kevin Kostner. But i watched a Manga from Japan about the Trapps and since i was a Child being on the brink of a young teenager my mum used the opportunity to tell me my Families history during the Nazi time (of a her mothers youth during the Nazi Regime) and i watched a remake in 2013.

[@jennywells416]

I'm from Mainz and only knew of the sound of music because my Dad is american. Him and his sisters were always singing the songs when we'd visit in the summer. So i grew up singing the songs but never seen the movie until 2013. We were visiting our family in the US and they wanted to do a movie night with the sound of music. I didn't think i would like it but to my surprise i loved it. It probably helped that i grew up with the music.

[@noellewest4347]

Hallo, Mainz ...! (from Mainz, Bretzenheim). I grew up watching that movie, and singing the songs or playing them on the piano, but I am originally from the US.

[@udornyc]

Hallo an Euch Meenzer! Bin in Mainz aufgewachsen. Gutenberg Gymnasium! Mein Vater war mit dem ZDF, damit hatten wir dann auf dem Lerchenberg gelebt! ❤

[@timn11.04]

I am from Germany and a few years ago I fell in love with muscials and so I came across The Sound of Music. Because of Julie Andrews my initial thought was that it was some sort of sequel to Mary Poppins😅🙈

[@ulqulqu]

I'm Turkish, I grew up in the Netherlands, very close to Germany, and only heard about and watched the movie once I moved to Turkey. We grew up watching Sİssi :) The Sound of Music is a known movie here in Turkey

[@rollstuhlmeister]

I'm British and we all know the film. Even if we weren't around in the 60s we've seen it on TV at some point. I didn't even realise it was American.

[@charlesball86]

Esp as some of the main stars were English like Julie Andrews.

[@TheEddyrose1]

My wife was Austrian and we saw this movie in Florida where I come from, she never heard of this movie but loved it, since she passed away a few years ago I decided to live here in her beloved country, here in Tyrol, most of her family did not know about this movie either, this is a beautiful country, Salzburg is far from Switzerland, you have to cross one country before even getting there (Liechtenstein), I love all our videos, keep up with the good work.

[@SomeGuyFromUtah]

This is so true. I lived in Germany 15 years and went to Austria, including Salzburg, and only Americans ever talked about Sound of Music.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

Who knew if they'd gone over die Alpen, they'd have been in the Konigsee in Berchtesgaaden? 🤣🤣🤣 Poor Planning? Tough hike mit kinder.

[@crtune]

I am one American who would spend ample time, if in Salzburg, talking about Mozart, and seeking concerts of that wonderful music. I'd also be looking at taking in some good concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna. "Sound of Music" is like most Broadway musicals - altered, and shoehorned into an altered reality. Hollywood also tends to mess around with already okay stories but this, probably like Broadway, has to do with generating ticket sales. I am glad that those people who have watched "Sound of Music" at least have tiny exposure to Solfeggio (i.e. ear training) in "Do-Re-Mi" song.

[@crtune]

@@GregBrownsWorldORacing The actual Von Trapp travel would be relatively boring - train trip to the ocean liner, time on board a large ocean liner, ending in berth, probably in New York harbor. Not so exciting. The family simply set up concerts in USA, and then stayed in America.

[@AllenTheobald]

Hi Feli! I had the amazing opportunity to meet you in Germany October 2023, and it was truly the highlight of my trip. You're so genuine, kind, and incredibly smart-it was such a joy to see that you're exactly as wonderful in person as you are in your videos. Thank you for making the experience so memorable!

[@emmitstewart1921]

I am a member of the generation that first saw the movie in a theater. If you've only watched the movie on a television, you cannot imagine the sensation of watching that opening on a screen that fills your entire range of vision. It is one of the most wonderful events of my life. I had read Maria Von Trapps autobiography some year before, in addition to seeing a previous movie that told of their first years in America, so the story wasn't completely new to me, But the music totally blew me away. As a person who had previously seen South Pacific, Carrousel, and Flower Drum Song, I knew that the songs were not traditional Austrian music. Rather they were music by Richard Rogers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, so, they were entirely American view of Austria. That did not diminish the experience for me.

[@saratemp790]

Wow that sounds amazing. I can just imagine how great the mountains looked on a full screen.

[@dennisquinn8558]

I'm 71. Today many can buy an excellent 4k TV with a good sound system attached, as I have, and get an idea of the impact this movie made for viewers when it first played in theaters. Especially the opening scene - which should leave anyone who sees and hears it with a big smile, as it still does for me each and every time.

[@dansknettv5147]

I am from Denmark where the film were a huge success. And the songs became classics in the radio. There has been several reruns in cinemas and TV. And also in the holiday season it plays year after year. In Denmark it has been a true film classic.

[@crimsonmoth]

As an American, I grew up watching this movie and have always loved it! I'm 52 so I was watching it in the late 70s and 80s. My mom is German, born in Wiesbaden in1944, and she moved to America when she was 22 years old. She's the one who introduced this movie to us (kids). She would tell me stories about hiking through the Alps, and when I watched this movie I imagined it was something like Julie Andrews spinning around and singing on top of a mountain lol. I always wanted to do that. Maybe someday... ☺ Thanks so much for the video! Very interesting and I can understand the German perspective. (I still love this movie though!)

[@f.lemken9594]

Is it possible, you are confusing the Alps and the Schwarzwald? Wiesbaden is quite far away from the Alps.

[@crimsonmoth]

@@f.lemken9594 Hi there. It was definitely the Alps. She traveled there to visit a relative, I believe. But she did indeed say the Alps. I would love to visit the Schwarzwald, however! That is the Black Forest, correct? Which inspired Grimm's fairy tales?

[@f.lemken9594]

@crimsonmoth Yes, the Schwarzwald is the Black Forest. Both are beautiful places though. The Schwarzwald is just way closer to Wiesbaden, so it felt odd for someone to bypass it, but given another additional reason to do so, it makes sense.

[@crimsonmoth]

@@f.lemken9594 So after our brief conversation, out of curiosity I had to go back to some written information I have about my mom. It appears that she visited not a relative, but a friend of the family. Her name was Frau Steffen, and she belonged to an Alpine club that had a house at the foot of a mountain called the Sauliing. Farther up the Sauling, there was the Schweiger Hutte that was part of the Alpine club. Apparently she and her sister “hiked up the Sauling and over to Austria.” Just thought you might find it interesting! (And maybe you know of it.) 😊

[@f.lemken9594]

@@crimsonmoth I've been to the Allgäu (many places) west of the Säuling and Garmisch-Partenkirchen east of it, but never there. Though, it is part of the most famous German area for winter sports. Interesting indeed, and I have to say, either you or your mother have quite the talent for writing travel reports, it appears.

[@MehrdadPoursadegh]

I'm from Iran, and the dubbed version of it that premiered here was immensely popular, yet I believe our version also cut short with the wedding. I genuinely don't remember any Nazi references but honestly can't really be sure about it! One more fun thing is the fact that real poets of the time rewrite the songs in Persian. Currently, some of them are actually are still in use to teach kids about solfeggio.

[@markrossow6303]

Nice.

[@SuzySylvania]

I have shown this movie to my children and grandchildren over the years. They love the first half but lose interest after that. I’m guessing that many kids didn’t watch after the wedding.

[@fmtk77]

I, as a 47 year old German, have found out about this movie because of Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge, where the title song is used and the movie itself is quoted as a play in the beginning. As I am interested in music, and have never heard that song before, i started to research.

[@yadniwasok8083]

Same here. I'm even almost the same age and also from Germany.

[@HHuynh-DP]

I am originally from Vietnam. Back in 1973-1974, when I was in high school, The Sound of Music was played in one of the theaters in Saigon. My friend and I went to an afternoon show and didn't know the movie lasted almost 3 hours. At that time movies were usually <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="90">1:30</a> hours. Any longer movie would be cut down to one and half hour so they could have more showings. But they did not alter this movie. We even had a short intermission after the wedding scene. I didn't understand English so I read the subtitles but I really enjoyed the story and songs. It influenced my taste in musicals. After settling in USA, I have looked for old musicals and loved some of them.

[@franciskafayeszter4138]

I'm from Hungary, but spent several years of my childhood in Germany. In Hungary, the stage musical is kinda popular, but I have never met anyone talking about the movie. I haven't seen either of them, but I know many people, who saw the stage version in theater. But the Do-re-mi song is even more well known: we used the Hungarian version to learn solfege.

[@jrgptr935]

Jemand hat in einem Kommentar erwähnt, daß man das auch im Iran zum selben Zweck benutzt ... als Deutscher kenne ich weder den Film noch die Lieder, vermutlich ist alles zu amerikanisch und kann hier nicht verständlich gemacht werden. Valaki megemlítette egy hozzászólásban, hogy ezt Iránban is ugyanerre a célra használják ... Németként sem a filmet, sem a dalokat nem ismerem, valószínűleg minden túl amerikai és nem lehet itt érthetővé tenni. Someone mentioned in a comment that this is also used for the same purpose in Iran ... As a German I know neither the film nor the songs, probably everything is too American and can't be made comprehensible here.

[@lxndrlbr]

45 y.o. from France, I used to watch this on VHS nearly every weekend with my mother while she was ironing... very strong emotional response to this movie. ❤

[@JanJensen-br1je]

Forty years ago, I played piano in the restaurant for background music at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT. The "baby" of the family, Johannis von Trapp would permit me to play "Edelweiss" only twice if requested during my 4 hour nightly gig. He had a tremendous antipathy to the songs of the "Sound of Music. I got to know Werner von Trapp, one of the original singers (named Hans or Fritz or something like that in the movie) well when living there. I played with music with his daughter, Elizabeth in a concert or two in Stowe as well. 😀

[@timmmahhhh]

Fascinating thanks. I will guess that they changed Werner Von Trrapp's name in the movie because it sounded too much like the Nazi scientist Werner Von Braun who the Americans snagged for their own post war purposes. I initially knew of him thanks to the cynical 1965 song by Tom Lehrer.

[@joshuarosen465]

Imagine having to listen to the same song over and over again no matter how good it is. When I was in college in the 70s there was a bar that we went to on occasion that had the Drinking Song from The Student Prince on the jukebox which everyone would play. The bartender threatened to shoot the next person who played it.

[@hctim96]

When I got married, we honeymooned at the Trapp lodge in Vermont. It was very nice..I was sad to hear it burned down..

[@anitapeludat256]

Amazing experience for you . Life was not so easy for them And romanticized by the musical, but I always loved it and jumped at a chance to visit Austria for the summer in my teens . Julie Andrews made the movie charming and running under the rose trellis and the scenery all over Salzburg was beautiful. I've been back several times to Austria, Vienna, for example and I've had nothing but great experiences with Austrians every time. If nothing else, that movie was good for tourism. Salzburg especially, just as gorgeous in real life.

[@paulw.woodring7304]

@@joshuarosen465 Like you're not allowed to pick up a guitar in a music store and start playing "Stairway to Heaven", eh?

[@tsm7964]

I’m from Los Angeles and I love music. Millions of children learn the song “Do re mi… “ as part of studying singing.

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

I never gone, but the Hollywood Bowl yearly screens "Sound of Music" and encourages the audience to sing along.

[@klbriceno1]

I'm sure someone has asked this and I really doubt you will even see this, but have you ever heard or been to Leavenworth in Washington state? If not, it's a little mountain town that has completely gone all in on a Bavarian style for every building, even Mcdonalds. There are strict building and style laws for every business. During Christmas time, it's like a Christmas wonderland.

[@meemo32086]

Wow, very different from Leavenworth Kansas!😂

[@messagegoeshere741]

Been. It more a tourist town. The buildings are as close to German as it gets. Was still fun though.

[@V100-e5q]

I can recommend going there. It's a little out of the way, for German dimensions, but a very rewarding deviation from the ubiquitous American style of towns. I really felt like being in a Swiss town or village. When I was first recommended of visiting such a place I though, meh, why would I look for such a thing in the US? I can have that anytime in Germany/Austria/Switzerland. But then I found it a nice change of mood as it reminded me of my various winter vacation stays in the Alps.

[@tabithamashburn8786]

Helen, Georgia is also built/decorated in Bavarian style

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

Sounds like Disneyland to me. 😂 Greetings from Austria ❤🇦🇹❤️ btw I love the one Supernatural Episode where Dean says, "Oktoberfest, Sammy, Oktoberfest"😂 Okay 😂 actually it is "Room's paid for, and it's Oktoberfest. Come on, brother. Beer and bar wenches." 😂

[@mikelang58]

Massive in UK as well. Grew up with this film as a Christmas staple. Visited Salzburg a couple of times in last few years and, apparently, someone called Mozart is way more famous to the locals than Sound of music😂

[@Ferox2121]

Greetings from Germany. I actually never heard of The Sound of Music, or the story of the Trapp family in general until now. So i learned something today. Thanks, Feli.

[@SW-gf6zl]

Same for me. Never heard of any of these movies in my life. 🇩🇪

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

It might be our youth.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

@@SW-gf6zl US here, I'd never have known about 'Dinner for One' if it wasn't for Feli.

[@xaverlustig3581]

The Trapp Family movies have been on German television now and then.

[@KaiHenningsen]

@@GregBrownsWorldORacing Of course, that one was British, not American.

[@scoutingforhistory4584]

I think the "schnitzel with noodles" was just an effort to find a line to rhyme with "warm apple strudel". We visited Salzburg years ago, and I was surprised to see that there were Sound of Music tours offered. I had always heard that most Austrians had never heard of the movie.

[@Gerben42]

Italians eat schnitzel with noodles (piccata milanese), although in S-W Germany one can have Schnitzel with Spätzle.

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

​@@Gerben42Aren't they to be eaten with onion steak (Zwiebelrostbraten)?

[@scoutingforhistory4584]

At home I always have egg noodles with my pork schnitzel and knödel. With a pfeffersosse (KZbin wouldn't let me put the German double s in my reply).

[@stephjovi]

Yeah we hear about it on American media. Those tours are for American and Japanese tourists not for us.

[@philw6056]

@@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe Spätzle work with almost everything.

[@randolphchristensen6428]

Feli, you really "hit the nail on the head" here. As an American growing up watching The Sound of Music every year on TV, it helped shape my view of the world and of my family and of music itself. I'd say it's even more than "nostalgia" or "a classic" for many Americans. I love it!

[@gem3132]

They crossed BY OVERNIGHT TRAIN into Italy. The next morning the Italian border was closed: by total chance they boarded the LAST train.

[@tj2375]

In Portugal and Spain the sound of music is always on tv around Christmas.

[@duanewhitacre5995]

Also in America at Christmas

[@alanjmcc]

My German grandmother emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager but returned a couple years later and moved back and forth six times, living in the U.S. homesick for Germany and in Germany homesick for America. The way she handled her German Heimweh was through Heimat kitsch, including the Student Prince and the Sound of Music. The historical inaccuracies were trivial and insignificant to her; she was proud to be associated with the Alps, with Edelweiss, and she knew how to hear "noodles" and think "Spätzle." I inherited my German identity from her, kitsch and all, and I appreciate the effort you put into making this video. I knew Maria von Trabb was no saint but I had not cottoned to the fact that Switzerland was not just over the hill from Salzburg. Wonderfully entertaining and informative video. Vielen vielen Dank.

[@peteraschaffenburg1]

“I knew Maria von Trapp was no saint” You might be right about that! ;-) “I had not cottoned to the fact that Switzerland was not just over the hill” Funny tidbit about that epic last scene; The path (the location it was filmed) the family takes to flee Austria would have led them directly into Germany. Close to the Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze, Hitlers residence. ;-)

[@pdfads]

In real life, the Trapps "fled" by train to Italy. Georg had Italian citizenship because he was born in Zadar, which was Italian territory at the time they left Austria (It's in Croatia now.)

[@judithstrachan9399]

As soon as I saw Salzburg on the map, I thought, “How would they get to SWITZERLAND going over THOSE mountains?!?”

[@bradw3800]

Hi Feli. First of all, we LOVE your vlog. I am South African and married to a German. The Sound of Music movie was a HUGE success in South Africa, and there have been countless musicals (both local and foreign) that have taken place here over the years. The movie is considered a major classic and introduced Julie Andrews to us, which made Mary Poppins such a success. I grew up with the Sound of Music album (vinyl), and eventually CD, VHS cassette, then DVD, then Blu Ray. We even did a school production of The Sound of Music in Middle School. My German husband had never heard of the movie and I introduced him to it a few years ago. We both live in South Africa but visit my in-laws in Berlin frequently. While spending time in Bavaria recently, we headed into Austria as well, and it was my second visit to Salzburg, and my husband's first. With The Sound of Music being one of my favourite movies of all-time, I was so excited to enjoy both the Salzburg and Sound of Music Bus Tours, and to share the excitement with my husband who is now a huge fan of the movie. I am also a massive Mozart fan, so that also made the visit to Salzburg even more exciting. Besides the fact that it is such a beautifully quaint city. We are heading there again in April/May. Feli, we love watching your vlog. I grew up in South Africa, with a hugely American and European influence, and my brother is a US citizen. My husband is German, so many of your videos make so much sense to me.

[@Erik69118]

I can attest to what she is saying as an American living in Germany since 2006 I have yet to meet a German who has heard of The Sound of Music. They do seem intrigued though when I say that nearly every American want's to see the sights where it was filmed because we all pretty much fell in love with the images and atmosphere when we saw the film for the first time.

[@KismetKat11]

My Dad was US Army and I was born in Germany (near Kaiserslautern) and then lived near Nuremberg as a kid. We visited the estate where part of the movie was filmed, and have pictures of the gazebo. This would have been the mid 1970s. The film was a family favorite so much so that my brother’s son fell in love with it as a kid. He wore out a VHS tape and used to enact scenes from the movie. Last summer, he went to Munich and Salzburg for the first time and he took the tour. I know it’s a very “Hollywood” movie, but hopefully, like with my nephew, it inspires one to learn about German & Austrian culture and to travel.

[@uumlau]

I was born shortly after that movie came out. My parents would sing Edelweiss as a lullaby to me when I was an infant.

[@aarondelafuente8507]

I'm from San Antonio, Texas and not only have I seen the movie, "The Sound of Music," but my wife and I went to Salzberg and took the "Sound of Music" tour. We also visited the church where "Silent Night" was first written and sung. We didn't have time to do the Monastery tour up on the hill in the center of Salzberg but we did see it as we came into Salzberg and we did get to walk the streets and see some of the sights. It was a memorable time.

[@chevalierdupapillon]

I am glad you enjoyed your time in Salzburg, and since you took an interest, allow me to point out a small thing which is useful to know when dealing with German place names. While "Burg" and "Berg" are both pronounced the same by native speakers of English (i.e. in a way that would be spelled "Börg" in German), in their original langauge where vowels are more precisely defined than in English, they are two totally different woords and pronounced completely differently. "Salzberg" would mean "Salt Mountain", whereas the actual name "Salzburg" means "Salt Castle".

[@judithstrachan9399]

@@chevalierdupapillon, I read a book once where the difference in “berg” vs “burg” was a matter of life & death. Desmond Bagley, I think.

[@chevalierdupapillon]

@@judithstrachan9399 That sounds not just like a good way of making people aware of the distinction, but also perfectly realistic, given just how many German place names (and as a consequence, surnames) end in one of the -two.

[@LuvSubbin]

The von Trapp family settled in Stowe, Vermont. They currently run a beautiful Austrian-styled lodge and their brewery is one of the best in the U.S. - the tag line being "A little of Austria. A lot of Vermont". It was started by Johannes von Trapp - the youngest son born in 1939.

[@decollector95]

I wish they exported out here (CA)!

[@PietroToniolo]

I am a 64 years old italian, and in my experience here in Italy the movie is well known, and often replayed on TV around Christmas. I believe they did a better job in translating the songs in italian too, even if the originals are unreachable. My Favourite Things has also become a jazz classic thanks to Dave Brubeck and John Coltrane!

[@frankrault3190]

The musical was immensely popular in the Netherlands where I was born in the late fifties. Many of my generation watched it two or three times at least. However, we all believed that the musical was historically right. There weren't many, those days, who already had traveled to Salzburg to factcheck the story. Like you said, the war wasn't that far behind us, and many felt some sense of relief, watching a singing Austrian anti-Nazi family. It helped to regard Austria as an acceptable place to go to, believing that an Austrian majority, back in the days, were anti-Nazi. The local tourist branch in Tyrol and Salzburg were very much willing to keep that dream intact. Thanks a lot for your relevant and thorough information and fact-checking!!

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

As an Austrian I can just say that that time is surely the darkest chapter of our history. After ww1 we were a broken people. Weak and poor. And then there came a man who wanted to make Austria great again. There was a big relief when mustache man arrived. Suddenly people had work again and food on the table. Most people had not the slightest idea that this would lead to another world war and the killing of millions of people in concentration camps. The first country the Nazis occupied was Germany, the second country Austria. Opposition was not allowed. Greetings from Austria ❤🇦🇹❤️

[@davidaas9286]

I am 70 years old and in North Dakota. I saw it first in a movie theater in Sioux Falls. We bought the LP record and played it on my grandma's stereo nonstop. I love the songs. I have bought the movie on DVD and played it for my grandchildren to introduce those songs to them. A classic. Thanks for the background Feli!

[@JuTseT11]

Born and raised in the US in the late 60s, SoM quickly became my favorite movie as they would play it on TV every year and had catchy sing-a-long songs and a wonderful story. I was shocked later as an adult when working with German expats that they had never heard of this movie. I sang a few verses of different songs and they just looked at me with a blank face. Another interesting tid bit. My parents emigrated from Cuba in the late 50s and my dad told me the Von Trapp family sang in their Villa in a small town in Cuba when he was a young boy. Of course I thought he was joking until he showed me a black and white picture of the Von Trapps at his home. It seems that when the Von Trapps started touring they didn't limit themselves to only the US.

[@patrickw123]

Attending an international elementary school in Islamabad, Pakistan, the school put on a production of The Sound of Music. Even if you weren't in the play, all the students learned the songs in music class and the lyrics and melodies are ingrained in my mind (happily) for decades now. I can literally start singing any of the songs at the top of my head! All of us kids from around the world had fun singing the same songs at school so, yeah, good memories!

[@benschultz1784]

When my local high school did _The Sound of Music_ for its spring musical for the first time back in the 1970s, the Von Trapps sent a letter of appreciation. Hearing the German version of "Edelweiss" just makes me think of _Man in the High Castle_ anymore. Your last point is basically the plot of _Das Schrekliche Mädchen_ .

[@dstrong86bluecoffee]

THANKS !! I just looked this up (never knew this) AND ASKED FELI if she do could one of her videos on this story !! (of Das Schrekliche Mädchen) (Dave Strong)

[@williameisenman9008]

My son attended The Roeper School, founded by Georg and Annamarie Roeper. The Roepers had fled Germany in the 1938 timeframe and in some ways, their story is more consistent with the movie, albeit they were educators not musicians. Annamarie and the balance of her family were able to leave by train and join her mother in Switzerland as she had left a year earlier. George who had been a student at Annamarie's family's school at Marineau, but was not yet married to Annamarie, was last to leave. He was forewarned by a friend that German officials were coming to arrest him the next day, and carrying only a rucksack, he travelled by foot to Switzerland. The Roepers were widely known is education circles in the early 60's and were depicted on television in an episode of the Armstrong Circle Theater titled Minerva's Children.

[@alfabsc]

Thanks for your video. I was a teenager in 1965. In my small US town, The Sound of Music ran for more than a year in the largest movie theater in town. I can't imagine a movie staying in a theater for a year these days, but there weren't any other options. I'm a musician, and Richard Rogers is one of my music heroes. "That will bring us back to do oh oh oh" 🎶

[@TheDrReif]

I am from Germany, but grew up in the US. Loved this movie as a kid, and have taken the Sound of Music tour twice in Austria, and have been to Stowe, Vermont where the real family moved to.

[@Warentester]

I'm a 44yo German and I've learned about the Sound of Music aged 26, when i got to know my British wife. Nobody around me among my fellow Germans knew it either.

[@NormanF62]

When I was seven, I remember resenting being forced to learn English when I came to the United States. For me, coming from Germany, it was a culture shock and I was more German than I realised and I did not want to integrate into another culture. My feeling today is entirely different and I am in love with the country and its people.

[@peteraschaffenburg1]

Probably much like your British wife doesn´t know "Dinner for One", right? ;-)

[@thomasrobinson182]

It's a Hollywood movie based on a musical stage play based on a memoir of a von Trapp family member. The music is mostly enjoyable, the cast is talented and if you accept it for what it is, it can be fun. 'Edelweiss' was written for the film, and is not an Austrian folk song.

[@WaltANelsonPHD]

Spot on.

[@jtidema]

Wow, I have never thought of that movie as 'fun' - I thought it was terrifying. It was the first movie I saw as a child that addressed Nazis and the sad situation for people who didn't want to join the National Socialist Party and had to give up their lives and their countries and make a run for it. They usually couldn't keep in touch with family at all after they left. When the Von Trapps came to the US they had absolutely nothing. If you read other comments on here you'll see others had the same response to it. Yes, the music is pretty but it was meant to make you think.

[@corriemayo2715]

@@jtidemamaybe make u think a little bit but there are many many other films and tv about and around Nazi Germany that are meant to make u think about war, atrocities, difficult choices and survival. In SoM, it’s mostly a reminder of the war and strife to come and not the point of the film. The film is mostly fun with the vistas, song and dance, etc

[@thomasrobinson182]

@@jtidema It has a lighthearted edge for all it's serious subjects. It's meant to be uplifting.

[@rolandmueller7218]

I remember singing and playing the song called “Edelweiss” in Germany and no one recognized it. But, my German mom who moved to the USA in 1955 knows and loves the song. 😅

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

😅 Imagine I was singing a Disney Song all the time of a Disney movie you haven't seen and me being upset why you can't sing along with me 😂

[@rolandmueller7218]

@ I am not upset. It’s just that some of those “Disney songs” are standard songs now that musicians all over the world, including Germans, need to know how to play: “My Favorite Things”, “When You Wish Upon a Star”, “Some Day My Prince Will Come”, etc. They are international jazz standards now. John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck played those songs.

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

@@rolandmueller7218 I was exaggerating 😅😂 And no I didn't believe for one second you were upset. When I was in the states back in the 90s I had this one discussion with my American girlfried about "the fresh Prince" with Will Smith. For her it was kind of granted that I know this show - which I actually did. Here it was called "Prince of Bel Air". It was so funny - like sharing Star Wars memes nowadays 😅

[@Historian212]

Feli, one reason I enjoy your videos is that you don’t shy away from the Nazi-era history, and are very open and honest about it. As a 69-year-old American from NYC, I saw the Sound of Music movie during its first release in 1965, when I was 10 years old. You’re right that for my parents’ generation, WWII was very much still part of their recent experience, and was much talked about. Although my father fought in the Pacific, his sister married a refugee who had fled from Berlin right before the war. He got to the US, then enlisted in the American army in 1941, and was sent to Europe because of course he was fluent in German. He lost many relatives to the Nazi persecution. I admire the way the German government eventually worked to build reconciliation about the war. Two things about The Sound of Music: the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein’s last name is pronounced Hammer-stine, not Hammer-steen; the song “Edelweiss” was composed because in the original stage version, the part of Captain von Trapp was played by actor and folksinger Theodore Bikel. (Bikel was born in Vienna in 1924, and since his family was Jewish, they fled after the Anschluss.) Bikel became very famous as a folksinger in the US, so Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote “Edelweiss” to highlight his talents (he also played guitar), and to attract his fans to the show. Since ethnic folk music was very popular in the 1960s, the song also capitalized on that trend. Thanks for this very interesting and informative video.

[@evanhooper1]

The 'two Felis in one scene' bit is getting very good. Great editing on those!

[@avengingmime]

My (American) family followed the Sound of Music at Christmas tradition; I couldn't understand my father's love for the sappy romance but I stayed in the living room for the glorious views of Salzburg and the Alps

[@richardrubert1359]

I was in Salzburg over a decade ago and was offered a tour of the filming sites. And I watched the movie in Japan, where they love it. And I know the family toured extensively. Their lodge in Vermont is still active. It's a Hollywood classic, not specifically designed for Germany or Austria.

[@___David__]

Here in Portugal there are 3 films guaranteed to air between Christmas and New Year's Eve: Home Alone, Home Alone 2 and The Sound of Music. So I grew up with the film, even though I don't particularly like it. I did see at least two stage productions that have, meanwhile, been done in Austria since 2005, and I'm glad to report the noodles were taken out of both translations of the show 😂

[@gitteharbo]

I am from Denmark. The Sound of Music is a very known musical and film. I have seen the musical more than once at summer amateur theaters. It was the favorit film of my late mother. We (children and grandchildren) sang My Favorit Things to her on her 80th birthday.

[@franciscoflamenco]

I'm from Latin America and while I've never personally seen this movie, pretty much everyone in my grandfather's generation considered it a classic. My grandpa would usually make references to it that would completely fly over my head until my mother explained what he was talking about.

[@michaelleclere5506]

French here. Love that film and it’s quite popular… probably not so much for younger generations. Xmas is coming and I’ll certainly see it once more and sing along! 😊

[@rincemind8369]

To balance it out: Most Americans have probably never heard of the film "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel"/"Three Wishes for Cinderella" (a GDR-czechoslovakian co-production from the year 1973). This fairy tale adaption is absolutely adorable and considered a classic in german-speaking countries. Also typically watched during Christmas season. The score by czech composer Karel Svoboda is iconic - so beautiful. I would really love to see Feli making a video about the film or at least mentioning it by occasion! Just saying. 😊

[@kateruch7196]

I watched this in the US as a child in the 70s thanks to Lukla, Fran, and Ollie. It's the only movie I remember from their international films, but I loved it! I have found it on KZbin I think, but haven't watched it again. Thanks for the reminder!

[@NormanF62]

I second Feli doing a video about it and most Americans have never heard of it! Thanks for bringing it to our attention in the comments. 😊

[@mytholictim]

How exactly would that balance it out? TSOM (outside of Germany and Austria) seems to be known around the world. Can't say I've ever heard of Drei Haselnüsse.. and I am sure there are many more German classics ppl outside of Germany+Austria+Switzerland don't know about.

[@ronclark9724]

I had not see a theater presentation of Mozart's Magic Flute until I got into watching opera In my thirties... Spreading my musical appreciation...

[@ap0563]

@@kateruch7196 Probably just a typo but it was Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. I remember watching this from childhood not from the TV show but from their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.

[@jefferyshute6641]

When I was a young boy, The Sound of Music was the first movie I saw at the cinema. It was before the days of multi-plex theaters with multiple screens. It was at the Tower Theater in Houston, Texas. It had been playing at the Tower for over a year, which would never happen today. My Dad and I wore our ties and suits, and Mom wore a new dress. It was how you went out in the mid sixties. The theater was packed and an usher seated us. Up to that point, I had only seen movies on our black and white TV. It's something I'll always remember. It was about 1966. Thanks Feli.

[@tomasarfert]

In Sweden Sound of Music (from 1965) was HUGE in the 60s. Everyone over here saw it (almost, at least). It did run on cinemas for years and years. I did see it personally in 1968 when I was 7. My father, who was German, born in Schwerin, loved it. We also had the soundtrack album at home.

[@arrtax]

Funny story: I am German and teach English and History in Germany and my school is doing an exchange with a US High School. Some years back I was there with a group of German students and the American school was doing a musical production of TSOM. Everyone was like "Hey that's about Germany, you have to see this", but none of us had heard of it. So they took us there and it was a great production and fun to watch, until at some point a 3 meter Nazi swastika flag dropped from the ceiling and all my students were like "WTF?!" My American colleague, who was also a history teacher, cringed so hard, he almost vanished under the seats, since he knew that showing the swastika in public is a criminal offense in Germany and he thought the whole thing was terribly offensive to his guests. Of course, when it was over we all talked about it and found it rather amusing in the end, but yeah, the movie is virtually unknown in Germany and we did not know what to expect. Sidenote: The US students told me later that when they made the flag they had it hanging from their auditorium building outside in public for a while to straigthen out, which seems even more inconcievable to any German person. :D

[@bavariangirl123]

Unthinkable for most Germans! The actual story of the Von Trapp family takes place in Austria, though.

[@arrtax]

@@bavariangirl123 I know, but I suppose that doesn't make much ofa difference to most Americans. ;)

[@andrewrobinson2565]

DOH?! KZbin is international. Best not to make a fool of yourself around the world. Austria and Germany are two different countries (except when that guy Adolf, born on the border, united them in 1938).

[@starlight55971]

I think the wink gave away the sarcasm. Many Americans can't tell/don't know the difference.

[@arrtax]

@@starlight55971 Also after the "Anschluss" in 1938, Austria was basically a part of Nazi-Germany. And my story is about the Nazis and Nazi symbols which sadly were both prevelant in both countries at this time. But in the video it says that a lot of the real Trapp-story played actually before the "Anschluss".

[@The_Dudester]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1017">16:57</a> Thanks Feli. As a lifelong fan I've done a deep dive on the history of the movie (a long time ago), but in 1964, Salzburg city officials were going to withhold a permit for the marching scene, but Director Robert Wise threatened to use newsreel footage to show how much the people of Salzburg welcomed the Anschluss. City officials relented and issued the permit.

[@FelifromGermany]

Interesting tid bit! From a modern day Austrian/German point of view, that's super weird 😅

[@dragonpullman23]

I kind of like how the director was like "We have ways of making you cooperate and face your past".

[@JohnMunsonjr]

​@@FelifromGermany Feli, he is exactly correct! I tell this same bit of trivia on my all day Sound of Music E bike tours here in Salzburg! I think i know more about the Trapp family story and movie trivia of any tour guide here in Salzburg. The mayor had joked to the film producers when he first was asked if it was ok to dress a lot of actors in Nazi uniforms and to hang Nazi flags in the Residenz Platz für the scene representing the Anschluss, and the mayor joked, "well if we survived one Nazi invasion, we can survive another one"! But the city officials wouldn't give the permit until the film producers threatened to use the real footage of the thousands of Austrians giving the Nazi salute to welcome them in to Salzburg! Then the city officials changed their minds really fast but said that there can't be any people in the background giving any Nazi salutes or cheering them on! That is why there is almost nobody around in the scene besides the Nazi troops! Please come with your beau Feli to Salzburg and I will give you both by tour for free! It would be great to meet you finally after seeing so many of your videos! Just contact me through my website please when possible. Www.TrappFamilyBikeTours.com

[@carolelohr1581]

@@JohnMunsonjr So, as someone from America who has gone on that tour in Salzburg, I noticed that when taken to the lake site (where Julie and the kids fall into the water), you get to see those "horse statues" by the area where they get out of the water. BUT... I also noticed a little area to the left of that spot (when looking across the lake at Leopoldskron) that looked like it might be the ACTUAL spot where the movie scene was filmed??? As, I believe that the movie crew wasn't given permission to film at Leopoldskron, so they just filmed next door. Have you noticed this spot on your tours?

[@MsTimelady71]

Vacationed in Salzburg and our tour guide told us that at the time many people who knew Maria disliked that the movie portrayed her so differently. Also, that many older Austrians are still uncomfortable speaking about the war(some still say that Austria was "invaded". But like anything, it brings money to Salzburg so it is tolerated. It was fun visiting the town and after returning home, watching the movie and seeing how little some streets have changed. Especially, the Mirabell Gardens.

[@V100-e5q]

- some still say that Austria was "invaded" - People conveniently forget that Hitler was an Austrian and that he simply returned home to his fatherland. Austrians are very good at forgetting unconvenient facts.

[@MsTimelady71]

@ Lol. We had an Austrian tour guide at Dachau who talked about how Austrians “forget” this. But Austria is indeed a beautiful country and I haas the most delicious cakes in Salzburg at an old tiny bakery.

[@inigogarcia4336]

Great to know about locals' vision of the movie. In Spain it's an absolute classic!

[@WienerVL]

Im Austrian and have never seen the "Sound of Music" but i know the true real storry of the Trapp Family! I only know the song "My favorite Things" because my favorite korean group did a amazing cover of it!

[@davidcwitkin6729]

Thank you for this. I love the Sound of Music. I'm born and raised in Long Island, New York. I was Uncle Max in my Highschool Theater production of the show. The movie was released in 1966, the year I was born. The choir of voices singing in the background on "Edelweiss" and "Climb Every Mountain" was the Senior Class of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, in Ohio, USA, which just happened to touring Austria and performing concerts in and around Salzburg during filming in 1965. About 20 years later, in 1984, I started my freshman year at Oberlin College, graduating in 1988. I have always felt a deep connection to The Sound of Music for these and many other reasons. To think that a young and lovely Julie Andrews powered the movie with her amazing voice and is still going strong as the voice that powers the narrative on the TV show "Bridgerton" fills me with joy. She and the movie truly are iconic. Thank you for making this video.

[@christinedegraves6776]

I’m American and yes i grew up with the sound of music , seemed like they always played it on thanksgiving day every year .I went. To Europe in the 90s and went to Salzburg i went on the sound of Music tour , and having seen to movie many times absolutely loved it and you are right the scenery of beautiful , and loved the church ❤i think i can see why it was popular with Americans and not Germans with many of the points you made ,Germany is a beautiful country ,and southern Germany is absolutely breathtaking. I have to say the tour was wonderful and there were so many different people from different countries on the bus ,and how sweet was it they were all singing the hills are alive all in English together I had the sweetest family from Malta sitting by me and the whole bus was singing so all the songs together

[@WilliamThompson-b1j]

I am 59. My mother sang the Sound of Music songs to me when I was five and six years old (1970-1971) The songs are in my blood

[@tobi6891]

As a half-German and half-Japanese who grew up in Austria, I can confidently say, I only know that film because of my Japanese family, not the German one and definitely not because of me having grown up in Austria. 😂

[@mascami]

In 2009 we're on vacation in the US and visited a classmate in Phoenix, AZ. He (german) has an american wife and we talked a lot and somewhere in the conversation she was all about the movie The Sound of music and asked me question over question about it. I was really confused. My classmate laughed and said "You don't know this movie" and I had no clue that this movie exists. I bought it as soon as we're back in germany and watched it 😂😂

[@nadiakent4082]

It is a shame that Edelweiss is not looked at fondly. I never thought it was supposed to be an Austrian Song, rather I thought it was a song about hope that your country endures when facing the onset of a tragic and uncertain time. The analogy of homeland as the flower and the wish that it endures seems poetic.

[@TheFeldhamster]

Haven't finished watching Feli's video yet, but you have to understand that the concept of "homeland" is tainted to Austrians. If you meet an Austrian who unironically uses the word "homeland", chances are very high the person is ultra far right.

[@matthewmosier8439]

​@@TheFeldhamsterI don't think any European country has any real right wing political parties. Remember that "right wing" alludes to a person's view of the role of government in a country, not anything related to ww2

[@Alias_Anybody]

@@matthewmosier8439 No, it simply originated from the position in parliament those factions were sitting at. All conservative/regressive political movements are right wing per definition, no matter if religious or nationalist.

[@SabineThinkerbellum]

I’m German and I didn’t know that this movie existed until this very moment. I know the 2 German movies though.

[@smavtmb2196]

The Sound of Music is well known here in Canada as well. I remember first watching it as a kid in the 80's with my mom. The legendary actor Christopher Plummer that play Mr Von Trapp is even Canadian. The last movie I saw him in was Knives Out from 2019. Which I recommend its fantastic. He was also in a TV crime mystery series called "Departure" not long before he sadly passed away. RIP

[@andrewrosario914]

While in the US Army I was stationed in Ansbach, Germany back in the late 1990s and I played the American version of the movie on VHS for a group of my German friends and their family. Most, if not all, spoke English and they all loved the movie. In fact I think we did watch it around Christmas.

[@drewred9308]

According to google trends searches for “The sound of music” over the past five years, the film is most popular in Australia with a search score of 100, followed by Austria with a score of 99. The US ranks 8 with a score of 80, while Germany is a distant 40th, with a search score of just 13, so appears to be true for Germans, but not for Austrians (Although this could be skewed by the movie being very popular in Salzburg). As an Australian, the result doesn’t surprise me, I know a number of people who love his film, it is also my best friend’s favourite film. I enjoy it too.

[@shuramcgill3599]

I'm from southern Indiana in the US, and the German/German-speaking heritage is strong here. Small towns host their own Christkindlmarkt with German hymns at Mass, bakeries sell Pfeffernüsse, and the Glühwein flows like a fountain! But we all still love Sound of Music. Local radio stations play "My Favorite Things" 800x daily during the Christmas season. It's a delicate balance between celebrating Christmas as Germans and as Americans. Is it ALWAYS authentic? No, but there are plenty other homages to our German/Austrian heritage that you can just chalk up SoM references to another part of American Christmas.

[@martinkasper197]

So that song is your local Last Christmas...🤔🤣

[@andreabarrios5249]

This is my favourite movie! 😊 I am from Mexico and now I live in Canada, in the province of Quebec. This movie is extremely popular and beloved in both places! In Mexico it's called “La Novicia rebelde” (The Rebel Novice) and in French “La Mélodie du bonheur” (The Melody of Happiness), and in Canada it airs on TV during the Christmas season as well. I played Maria in a school play in Mexico, it changed my life to discover I could act and sing well enough and it inspired me to become a language teacher and to learn how to play the guitar. I know the dialogues and songs in English by heart and I dream of visiting Salzburg one day. I am really surprised to learn that most people in Austria and Germany don't know about it! 😮 Thanks for another great video Feli!

[@brook.53]

This is literally my favorite movie! I’m shocked people in Germany/Austria have never heard of it

[@NormanF62]

Like I noted, its too schmaltzy to be a heimatfilm. Germans have an expression not found in English, called heimatweh. Its the opposite of wanderlust. It refers to a feeling of seeking home, of wanting to be there, its like your first love and you can’t let go of it! As Americans would idiomatically say, your heart is at home. That’s one of the reasons why The Sound of Music never caught on in the German-speaking world.

[@marcellaacone7085]

In Italy, this movie is called "Tutti insieme appassionatamente". Yep, we always have got the longest title ever and who knows for what reason. The most famous theme of this movie, "Le cose che piacciono a me", is also the opening for an Italian radio program. So curious, the "Edelweiss" song. I was sure it was really an Austrian popular song. Yep, in Italy this movie is very well known and loved. We did some changes to the lyrics, of course. The biggest one is the song about the teenager Fon Trapp girl; the original English lyrics speak about a 17, almost 18 girl or a thing like that; it would be very hard to put into a song, "diciassette, diciotto", too long words. So we made her younger. The song is "Quindici anni, quasi sedici", that means 15, almost 16. I know this because for some years, our TV channels insisted to air the NOT translated version of the movie and at that time I could not understand English very well, so I got the numbers only. I don't know anything about this "schnitzel with noodles" story, because we erased it from lyrics and totally reinvented them.

[@shuegottschalk]

I'm from a huge Midwestern family of German descent. Growing up in 1970s WI, this movie was on TV every year btwn Thanksgiving and Christmas. We identified with the eclectic large singing family humor. These songs are also in our blood 😊

[@ColonelTux]

I'm a 68 year old American, and I grew up with the Sound Of Music movie. I think it might still be my wife's favorite movie. Of course we learned somewhere along the way that Edelweiss isn't really an Austrian song, but we still love it and the other songs in the movie. It is by turns funny and charming, and always beautiful. Austrians might forgive the historical inaccuracies if they considered how it has exposed so many Americans to their beautiful country. I've never been there, but ironically my father was there. He saw combat in World War II in Europe as an officer in the U.S. Army, and he was stationed in Vienna after the war as part of the occupation. Feli, you should know that he came away with a lifetime love of the German language, food, and music. We sang Stille Nacht and O Tannenbaum at Christmas! The Third Reich was an evil aberration. Our two peoples share many common cultural ties and are natural allies.

[@lorrie2878]

I remember when I saw it in a movie theater when I was 10 and my aunt took from San Diego to Salt Lake City on a train... The sidewalks sparkled...

[@cassandrablake4851]

I work for an Austrian company just north of Salzburg and when I’ve been there for both work and holiday my colleagues have expressed how hilarious our obsession with the movie is, they all had heard of it but none have seen it. They couldn’t believe I was doing the tour of it too 😅😅 but the tour was amazing for the movie aspects and to see so many different areas in the Salzkammergut region that would take hours to get to taking regional transit was another huge selling point!

[@NormanF62]

For Austrians, the movie is less relevant for its content than for all the beautiful locations showcased in Salzburg, which is an Austrian land. The place is part of the Upper Austria region. Its appeal to tourists is undeniable and while Austrians aren’t familiar with the movie, the tour on which its based, is very much in demand there. 😊

[@chevalierdupapillon]

@@NormanF62 Small correction: Salzburg is a state (Bundesland) of its own, not a part of Upper Austria. This is not surprising given both its geographical situation and the fact that (despite having alsways been culturally & politically close) it only became a part of Austria in 1803/1814, whereas Upper Austria was one half of the original duchy of Austria that dates back to the 10th century.

[@michaelb1761]

My mother-in-law and father-in-law immigrated to Canada after the war. They met, got married, and moved to the US. They really liked the movie, and the movie/play is one of my wife's favorites. She grew up watching the movie. So, not Austrian but Germans from the same generation as the time depicted in the movie, and they definitely liked it.

[@dresden_slowjog]

As an *East* German, born in 1978 I've never heard of this movie. An American movie in Austria- surely no screentime in the socialistic Republic where only pensioners could travel where they wanted, and a few artists and sportspeople. A German Christmas tradition/ movie classic is the 1973 Czech/ East German co-production "3 Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel" ( 3 hazelnuts for Cinderella) in which a poor girl outsmarts the handsome but obnoxious prince several times. TV stations broadcast it 20 times this winter alone (I checked). Check out Moritzburg castle. A Norwegian guy once drooled, he had no idea that this childhood memory was right there, near Dresden.