article_snippet: Nevertheless the remaining powers-that-be sincerely hope to ‘maintain some semblance of normality’ by exposing us to the ever-optimistic Von Trapps.
article_snippet: — all those glowering Captain Von Trapp sorts who expected their dinner to be on the table.
article_snippet: The Von Trapps were descended from Robert Whitehead, an engineer born in Bolton in 1823.
article_snippet: The Von Trapps went abroad to work for a Milanese company and in Trieste, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, The Von Trapps built ‘the first cylindrical marine boiler’ and helped design armour-plated frigates for Kaiser Franz-Josef’s navy.
article_snippet: According to Hollywood, however, the Von Trapps crept from the concert hall, hid behind the Nonnberg tombs, and climbed every mountain to freedom carrying heavy instrument cases.
article_snippet: chosen, they’d have soon arrived on the terrace in Hitler’s Berchtesgaden.
article_snippet: The only place where it has never caught on, ironically, is Austria, where Captain Von Trapp is considered a deserter, which Captain Von Trapp was if you think about it.
article_snippet: The Von Trapp villa became Himmler’s headquarters during the war.
highlights_snippet: The Von Trapps were descended from an engineer from Bolton .
  