The Sound of Music Fans Can Still Visit the Austrian Palace Where the Classic Musical Was Filmed

Much like those famous hills, the Austrian palace that inspired the von Trapp family villa is still alive with the sound of music. And fans looking to relive the magic of the classic 1965 film can visit and even stay there!

Back in 1964, the historic Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria, was chosen as one of the primary filming locations for director Robert Wise’s big screen adaptation of The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Today, the Rococo-style palace overlooking a picturesque pond is open to the public as Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron.

Commissioned by Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg Count Leopold Anton Eleutherius von Firmian in 1736, Schloss Leopoldskron represented the home of Captain von Trapp (Plummer) and his seven children in several exterior shots in The Sound of Music. While a total of 10 outdoor scenes were filmed on the grounds, none of the interior scenes in the von Trapp home were filmed inside the palace. The décor in Schloss Leopoldskron’s Venetian salon, however, did serve as the inspiration for the von Trapp ballroom, where the famous “Lonely Goatherd” marionette number takes place.

Similarly, the palace’s terrace and a gate overlooking the pond and flanked by two distinctive hippocampus — or merhorse — statues were replicated for scenes filmed elsewhere. But The Sound of Music fans can still see the real things either as guests of Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron or on official guided tours.

Since 1947, the property has been owned by non-profit organization Salzburg Global Seminar, and it officially opened as a hotel in 2014. The palace itself features one-dozen suites, while the adjacent Meierhof — or administrative building — features more than 50 guest rooms, including three “Sound of Music” rooms.

Unfortunately, you won’t find the glass pavilion where Rolfe (Daniel Truhitte) and Liesl (Charmian Carr) sang “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” at Schloss Leopoldskron anymore. Like the palace itself, the actual pavilion, which used to stand in the surrounding park, is only seen in the film’s establishing shots, while its interior was recreated on a soundstage. According to Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron’s website, the real pavilion was moved to Schloss Hellbrunn due to the massive influx of tourists in the years after The Sound of Music was released.

The film, based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which itself was based on the true story of Maria von Trapp and the Trapp Family Singers, is one of Andrews’s most memorable. Her performance as Maria earned her a second Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 1965, after winning the same award for her role in Disney’s Mary Poppins the year before.

An instant classic, The Sound of Music has also become something of a holiday staple, thanks in part to the song “My Favorite Things” as well as annual airings on TV. More than two decades after the film’s release, Andrews returned to Schloss Leopoldskron alongside Plácido Domingo and John Denver to film the 1987 holiday special The Sound of Christmas.

She returned to Salzburg again for a 2015 featurette included in a 50th anniversary edition DVD edition of the film. The success of The Sound of Music, she said at the time, “created an indelible link between the film and the city in which its story took place.”