#F CORRECTION FEED (CLICK TO SEARCH)
[1] The film depicts the family fleeing the festival, hiding in the Abbey cemetery, and then hiking over the mountains.
[2] The real family left by train from the Salzburg station. They did not hide in the Abbey.
[3] They told friends they were going to America to sing (via Italy). They left openly during the day.
[4] The film's final shot is the family hiking into Switzerland.
[5] Georg was born in Zadar (Zara), which became Italian territory after WWI, granting the family Italian citizenship.
[6] They used their Italian passports to travel by train to Italy, then to London and the US.
[7] The film shows them hiking the Untersberg mountain near Salzburg.
[8] Hiking south/west from Salzburg leads directly to Berchtesgaden, Germany, home of the Eagle's Nest.
[9] The Swiss border is approximately 200 miles (300+ km) west of Salzburg.
[10] The film compresses the timeline, showing the escape immediately after the Anschluss (March 1938).
[11] They left in the summer/autumn of 1938, months after the Anschluss. Georg declined a naval commission.
[12] In the film, they marry and return from their honeymoon just as the Anschluss begins.
[13] They married in 1927. By 1938, they had two children (Rosmarie, Eleonore) and Maria was pregnant with Johannes.
[14] The film omits the three younger children to maintain the timeline of a recent marriage.
[15] The film features a scene where nuns remove distributor caps/wires from Nazi cars.
[16] There was no pursuit or sabotage. They left legally by train.
#C RELATED QUERIES
#01 What happened to the von Trapp family after they arrived in America?
#02 Did the real Maria von Trapp approve of the film's changes?
#03 How accurate is the depiction of Captain von Trapp's personality in the film?
The ending of the 1965 film *The Sound of Music* is famously dramatic, but it takes significant liberties with the historical facts of the von Trapp family’s departure from Austria.
Here are the specific details of how the film's ending differs from the real-life story:
### 1. The Method of Escape
* **In the Film:** The family flees under the cover of night immediately following their performance at the Salzburg Festival. They hide in the cemetery of Nonnberg Abbey while Nazi soldiers search for them, then they drive to the border and begin a strenuous hike over the mountains.
* **In Real Life:** The escape was much less cinematic. The family did not hide in a convent or sneak away from a concert. Instead, they simply boarded a train. They told their neighbors and acquaintances that they were going to Italy to visit and to sing, and they left in broad daylight.
### 2. The Destination
* **In the Film:** The final shot shows the family climbing the Alps into Switzerland to find freedom.
* **In Real Life:** They went to Italy first. This was possible because Captain von Trapp had been born in Zadar (now in Croatia), which at the time of his birth was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but later became Italian territory. Because of this, Georg von Trapp held Italian citizenship, as did his wife and children. From Italy, they eventually traveled to London and then took a ship to the United States.
### 3. The Geography
* **In the Film:** The family is depicted hiking over the mountains directly behind Salzburg to reach safety.
* **In Real Life:** If the von Trapps had actually hiked over the mountains immediately surrounding Salzburg, they would have ended up in **Germany**, not Switzerland. Specifically, they would have been very close to Berchtesgaden, the location of Adolf Hitler’s "Eagle's Nest" mountain retreat. Switzerland is actually hundreds of miles away from Salzburg.
### 4. The Timing and Urgency
* **In the Film:** The escape happens in a single night of high-stakes pursuit by the Gauleiter and the Gestapo, occurring shortly after the *Anschluss* (the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany).
* **In Real Life:** The departure was more calculated. While they were certainly fleeing the Nazi regime and Georg had refused to join the German Navy, they did not leave in the middle of the night as fugitives. They left several months after the *Anschluss* had occurred.
### 5. The Family Composition
* **In the Film:** There are seven children, and Maria and Georg have just married shortly before the escape.
* **In Real Life:** By the time the family left Austria in 1938, Maria and Georg had been married for 11 years (since 1927). Furthermore, they already had two children of their own, with a third on the way. The film omits these younger children to keep the focus on the original seven.
### 6. The "Sabotage"
* **In the Film:** The escape is made possible by the nuns at the Abbey, who remove engine parts from the Nazis’ cars to prevent them from pursuing the von Trapps.
* **In Real Life:** This is entirely fictional. There was no car chase or mechanical sabotage involved in their departure.