Salzburg and the surrounding area, 1938

The young postulant Maria is having difficulty in becoming accustomed to the strict rules of the Benedictine convent at Nonnberg. In order to find out whether a life in the convent is really suited to her, Maria is sent out by the Mother Superior into the everyday world once more, to act as governess to the seven children of the widowed Baron von Trapp, a former naval captain and a highly decorated submarine commander. 

Maria quickly forms a relationship with the children, mostly through making music with them. But even the strict, serious Baron quickly falls under the spell of Maria’s high spirits. He leaves his fiancée Elsa Schrader, a wealthy Viennese lady, and marries Maria. However, this private idyll is soon overshadowed by the political situation which develops at the end of the thirties. The Baron refuses to join the National Socialist Party, and he also makes this decision public, and in consequence he and his family come under increasing pressure. Scarcely is the honeymoon over when he receives an unwelcome visit from the naval supreme command in Berlin, instructing him to take over the command of a submarine once more and immediately travel to the naval base at Bremerhaven in order to do so. 

At the last minute Maria succeeds in delaying the execution of this order: at the instigation of impresario Max Dettweiler, a friend of the family, the entire family has received an invitation to the singing competition at the Salzburg Festival. The Baron is in fact given permission to take part in this competition with his family and to delay his departure by a few days. While the prizes are being presented at the Festival, the von Trapp family manages to escape.

Recommended from 6 years