Maria the daughter told the story to Opera News in 2003, “We did tell people that we were going to America to sing. And we did not climb over mountains with all our heavy suitcases and instruments. We left by train, pretending nothing.” The von Trapps, their secretary and their musical director traveled to Italy by train, where they purchased tickets to America.
Then they made their way to London and quickly boarded a ship heading for New York. After their arrival, they had a concert tour in Pennsylvania planned. What did the von Trapps think of America and how was their life after they arrived?
The Nazis Take Over
In the spring of 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria. At the time the von Trapps were so popular they were actually asked to perform at Hitler’s birthday celebration, but because of their disdain for the Nazi party, the family declined. George von Trapp even refused to hang the Nazi flag on their home, a decision which was potentially dangerous.
Paranoia set in as neighbor began spying on neighbor, and Nazi anti-religious propaganda ran rampant, causing children to turn on their parents. The von Trapps had a hard time accepting the harsh reality of what the Nazis were doing to their country.
Nazi Recruitment Efforts
The Nazis made every effort to keep the von Trapps in Austria. They offered to make their singing troupe even more famous and to give Georg a position in their naval fleet working with submarines. They went so far as to offer to send one of the children to medical school. These were tempting offers, but in the end, George decided he could not support the Nazi regime and the family decided to leave Austria.
Their method of getting out wasn’t quite as dramatic as the movie made it out to be and definitely did not include walking across the Alps with all their belongings. So how did they really do it?
Coming To America
The family first came to America on a six-month visitors’ visa and after those expired, they were forced to travel back to Europe where they did a short Scandinavian tour. They were soon allowed to reenter the country but ended up spending a week at Ellis Island in New York due to an unfortunate incident. When the customs officials asked how long they were planning to stay for their second visit, instead of answering six months, which was the acceptable answer, Maria said, “Oh, I am so glad to be here—I never want to leave again!”
The issue was eventually resolved, and the family was released, but you can’t really blame Maria, the family really did end up staying a lot longer than six months.
Receiving Their Citizenship
After a few years of touring and relying on friends for a place to stay, the von Trapps settled down in Vermont. During the 1940’s, the family operated a farm and music camp there when they were not on tour. In 1944, Maria and the von Trapp daughters filed declarations of intention for U.S. citizenship, which they received by 1948. Rupert and Werner, two of the von Trapp sons, served in the U.S. Army during the Second World War and therefore became naturalized U.S. citizens.
Baby sisters Rosemarie and Eleonore, who were born to Maria from her marriage to Georg, derived their citizenship from their mother and the youngest son Johannes was born in the United States. There are no records that Georg von Trapp ever applied to become an American citizen.