Eldest daughter of Georg von Trapp and the eldest of the seven children whose story inspired The Sound of Music. Her memoir Memories Before and After The Sound of Music (2003) is the most detailed first-hand account of the family's Salzburg years. She lived to 97.

The real Maria. A novice at Nonnberg Abbey before marrying widowed naval officer Georg von Trapp, Maria became world famous through the 1959 musical The Sound of Music and the 1965 film. Her life and the filming locations in and around Salzburg draw millions of tourists to the city each year.