Georg Johannes von Trapp " Incorporates information from the article in the German Wikipedia " Korvettenkapitän Georg Johannes , Ritter von Trapp ( April 4 , 1880 – May 30 , 1947 ) , known as Baron von Trapp , was an Austro - Hungarian Navy officer . His exploits at sea during World War I earned him numerous decorations , including the prestigious Military Order of Maria Theresa . The story of his family served as the inspiration for the musical " The Sound of Music " . Birth and naval career . Georg Johannes Ritter von Trapp was born in Zara , Kingdom of Dalmatia , then a Crown Land of the Austro - Hungarian Empire , now Zadar in Croatia . His father , Fregattenkapitän August Trapp , was a naval officer who had been elevated to the Austrian nobility in 1876 which entitled him and his descendants to the style of " Ritter ( Knight ) von " in the case of male and " von " in the case of female offspring . August Ritter von Trapp died in 1884 , when Georg was four . His mother was Hedwig Wepler . Von Trapp ' s older sister was the Austrian artist Hede von Trapp . His brother , Werner von Trapp , died in World War I in 1915 . In 1894 , von Trapp followed in his father ' s footsteps and entered the k . u . k . ( imperial and royal ) Austro - Hungarian Navy , entering the naval academy at Fiume ( Rijeka ) . He graduated four years later and completed two years of follow - on training voyages including a trip to Australia . In 1900 he was assigned to the armored cruiser SMS " Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia " and was decorated for his performance during the Boxer Rebellion . In 1902 he passed the officer ' s examination . He was fascinated by submarine s , and in 1908 he seized the opportunity to be transferred to the newly formed " U - boot - Waffe " . In 1910 he was given command of the newly constructed SM " U - 6 " , which was christened by Agathe Whitehead , granddaughter of the Englishman Robert Whitehead , inventor of the torpedo . He commanded " U - 6 " until 1913 . On April 17 , 1915 , von Trapp took command of SM " U - 5 " and conducted nine combat patrols . While in command of the " U - 5 " he sank the following : He captured : Von Trapp is sometimes incorrectly credited with sinking the Italian troop transport " Principe Umberto " . In reality , this was sunk by " U - 5 " under von Trapp ' s successor Friedrich Schlosser ( 1885 – 1959 ) on June 8 , 1916 , after von Trapp was transferred to the SM " U - 14 " . On October 14 , 1915 , von Trapp was transferred to the captured French submarine " Curie " , which the Austrian Navy redesignated SM " U - 14 " . Von Trapp conducted ten more war patrols , until , in May 1918 , he was promoted to " Korvettenkapitän " ( equal to Lieutenant commander ) and given command of the submarine base in the Gulf of Kotor . At the end of World War I , von Trapp ' s wartime record stood at 19 war patrols ; 11 cargo vessels totalling 45 , 669 tons sunk , plus the " Léon Gambetta " and " Nereide " and 1 cargo vessel captured . Among other honors , he received the Knight ' s Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa . The end of the First World War saw the defeat and collapse of the Austro - Hungarian Empire . In the process , Austria was reduced in size to its German - speaking core – losing its seacoast – and had no further need for a navy , leaving von Trapp without a job . First marriage . Von Trapp was first married to Agathe Whitehead , a niece of St John Brodrick , 1st Earl of Midleton and a granddaughter of Robert Whitehead , who invented the modern torpedo . Agathe christened his first command , the U - boat " U - 6 " . Agathe ' s inherited wealth sustained the couple and permitted them to start a family . Their first child , Rupert , was born on November 1 , 1911 , at Pola . The family lived at Pina Budicina 11 . The marriage produced six more children : Agathe , also born at Pola ; Maria Franziska ; Werner ; Hedwig ; and Johanna ; all born at Zell am See at the family home — the Erlhof — and Martina , born at Klosterneuburg at the family home , the Martinsschlössel . On September 3 , 1922 , Baroness von Trapp died of scarlet fever contracted from her daughter Agathe . The family purchased a villa in Aigen , a suburb of Salzburg , and moved in 1924 . About 1926 , Maria Franziska was recovering from an illness and was unable to attend school , so von Trapp hired Maria Augusta Kutschera , from the nearby Nonnberg Abbey , as a tutor . Second marriage . Von Trapp , 47 , married Maria , 22 , on November 26 , 1927 . They had three children : Rosmarie , born February 8 , 1929 , in Salzburg , Austria ; Eleonore , born May 14 , 1931 , in Salzburg ; and Johannes , born January 17 , 1939 , in Philadelphia , bringing the total number of von Trapp ' s children to ten . Later life . In 1935 , von Trapp ' s money , inherited from his first wife , was invested in a bank in England . Austria was under economic pressure from a hostile Germany , and Austrian banks were in a precarious position . Von Trapp sought to help a friend in the banking business , Auguste Caroline Lammer ( 1885 – 1937 ) , so he withdrew most of his money from London and deposited it in an Austrian bank . The bank failed , wiping out most of the family ' s fortune . This demoralized and depressed von Trapp , who ceased to engage in other gainful activities , believing that it was beneath the dignity of the family to work for a living or to sing in public . Until the loss of the family fortune , the family had sung together as a hobby . Faced with an impossible situation of little or no money and a husband incapable of providing for her or for the family , Maria took charge and began to make arrangements for the family to sing at various events as a way of earning a livelihood . At about that time , a Catholic priest , Franz Wasner , around Maria ' s age , came to live with them and became the group ' s musical director . Maria also entrusted the priest with management of the family ' s finances as treasurer of the Trapp Family Austrian Relief fund . Around 1936 , Lotte Lehmann heard the family sing , and she suggested they perform paid concerts . When the Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg heard them on the radio , he invited them to perform in Vienna . According to Maria von Trapp ' s memoirs , Captain von Trapp found himself in a weird situation . He was offered a commission to the German Navy in 1938 , a tempting proposition for a Captain without a navy , but decided he would have to decline , being opposed to the Nazi beliefs . Knowing that he could not decline this induction without threat of arrest , possible for his entire family , he decided to leave Austria . Some details of the von Trapps ' escape from Austria were changed in " The Sound of Music " . In the film it was stated that he was threatened with death if he did not capitulate to the Nazis . It was also stated that the Captain had been born into what later became the Italian territory of Zara , the family were all Italian citizens as a result . Therefore , the family left Austria for Italy by train in broad daylight , rather than by hiking 300 km over the mountains outside Salzburg to Switzerland in the middle of the night . In reality , Captain von Trapp was threatened with arrest , not death . When WWII started in 1939 , Italy was allied with Germany , which still listed von Trapp as a criminal for his escape ; the family fleeing to Italy would have been highly unlikely . The family believed that if they went to live in America , the U . S . would protect them . The family then sailed to the United States for their first concert tour , then went back to Europe to tour Scandinavia in 1939 hoping to continue their concerts in the non - Nazi areas . During this time , they went back to Salzburg for a few months before returning to Sweden to finish the tour . From there , they traveled to Norway to begin the trip back to the United States in September 1939 . After living for a short time in Merion , Pennsylvania , where they welcomed their youngest child , Johannes , the family settled in Stowe , Vermont , in 1941 . They purchased a farm in 1942 and converted it into the Trapp Family Lodge . They built a home which they named " Cor Unum " ( One Heart ) . In January 1947 , Major General Harry J . Collins turned to the von Trapp family in the USA pleading for help for the Austrian people , having seen the residents of Salzburg suffer when he had arrived there with the famed 42nd Rainbow Division after World War II . The Trapp Family founded the Trapp Family Austrian Relief , Inc . Von Trapp died of lung cancer on May 30 , 1947 , in Stowe , Vermont .