Stay at Sound of Music villa
2008-05-15 08:02
Salzburg - The Sound of Music,
one of Hollywood's greatest money-spinners, will scale new
heights when the original von Trapp family villa near Salzburg
opens as a hotel in July.
The 1965 film based on the true story of how aspiring nun
Maria sang her way into the hearts of Baron von Trapp and his
seven children has provided fans with a host of must-have items.
The Villa Trapp hotel will give visitors a chance to sleep
in the family's former bedrooms or get married in their chapel.
And the gazebo where Liesl, eldest of the von Trapp
daughters in the film, and her boyfriend Rolf meet secretly and
perform Sixteen going on 17 will also be available as a
self-assembly construction set.
"The hotel really is a milestone for the commercialisation
of The Sound Of Music for Salzburg," said Leo Bauernberger from
the Salzburg provincial tourism board. "The Sound of Music is
well and truly a stroke of luck for this city."
The film, which starred Julie Andrews and Christopher
Plummer and was based on a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, has
inspired sing-along shows worldwide, a drinking game, a
self-healing CD and a Maria Barbie doll.
'Passed down the generations'
US ticket tracking site www.boxofficemojo.com ranks The
Sound of Music as the third most successful movie of all time
on the domestic market, taking inflation into account, topped
only by Gone With the Wind and Star Wars.
"It is hard to imagine that anyone hasn't seen it and it is
still passed down the generations," Graham Hales, brand
specialist at Interbrand, told Reuters. "It is a property."
The von Trapp family lived in the villa outside Salzburg
from 1923 to 1938 before fleeing the Nazi takeover of Austria.
Nazi security chief Heinrich Himmler used the villa as a home
close to the Austrian Alps until 1945.
A missionary order bought the residence after World War Two
and has agreed to relinquish it for use as a hotel.
Entrepreneurs plan to make no alterations to the building other
than essentials such as painting and rewiring.
'You've come home'
In Salzburg, visitors from North America, Asia and Britain,
where the film has been very popular, generate some 700 000
overnight stays every year, according to tourism officials.
For 40% of them, the film is the sole reason for
their visit. Seeing the film's original locations is for many,
like Lana Wright from New Zealand, a dream came true.
"It was almost a feeling like 'you've come home'," said
Wright, 53, with watery eyes, stepping off a tour bus.
"Finally I have arrived, arrived somewhere where I was
supposed to be, somewhere that I was supposed to see."
Hales said The Sound of Music, by featuring goodies and
baddies, heroes who stand up to do the right thing and a
heartening depiction of strong family bonds, will be appealing
to generations to come.
"The whole story is simply so beautiful - here in Salzburg,
with the scenery, the people, the whole story line - it's just
a classic," said Laura Ude from the United States.