von Trapp Family History
Martin and Kelly von Trapp
The Sound of Music has made "von Trapp" a household name across generations. While aspects of the movie are accurate, many details were changed or dramatized by Hollywood. The family didn't traverse the Alps on foot with all their instruments, but they did leave Austria to tour around Europe and the United States, eventually settling in Stowe in the 1940s.
Werner and Erika von Trapp started the von Trapp Family Farm in Waitsfield, Vermont in 1959. Erika (lovingly called Oma, like the cheese made in her honor) had studied agriculture in Austria and was a main force behind establishing and growing the farm.
Sebastian von Trapp, Molly Semler and their twin toddlers.
Now over 60 years later, von Trapp Farmstead produces sustainably raised meat and dairy; live-culture yogurt, and award-winning artisan cheese from our own milk. Until his recent passing, Martin, one of Werner and Erika's six children, and his wife Kelly operated the organic dairy; you can read Martin’s obituary on our blog. Martin and Kelly’s eldest son Sebastian and his wife Molly run the cheesemaking side of the farm.
Other members of the von Trapp family operate separate businesses in the region. Johannes von Trapp, the youngest child of Georg and Maria, and his descendents operate the Trapp Family Lodge and von Trapp Brewing at the site of the family’s original home in Stowe. Our relatives Tobias (Tobi) and Sally opened the von Trapp Greenhouses just across the road from our farmstead, and now their daughter Emily operates von Trapp Flowers on the same land.
While these businesses act independently, we often collaborate with each other. For example, we sell von Trapp beer and flowers in our farm store, the von Trapp Bierhall uses our cheese in their kitchens, and we regularly work with the brewery to make our seasonal beer-washed cheese, Drunk Alice.
