You can climb every mountain in Austria in search of the real story behind the Sound of Music, but locals are determined to ensure you will not be able to stay in the villa of the family that inspired the film.
Neighbours in the posh Salzburg suburb of Aigen have protested against plans to turn the Von Trapp family house into an upmarket hotel, arguing that the noise and added traffic generated would be too much for the area.
The villa was home to Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp, his seven children and second wife - the former novice nun Maria, famous as part of a local singing troupe - who fled via Switzerland to the US in 1938 to escape the Nazis. Their story, the stuff of Hollywood, was immortalised in the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The Sound of Music is one of the 10 most-viewed movies of all time.
In response to complaints, Salzburg authorities stopped the transformation of the elegant yellow villa into a hotel. Its new managers, who have the backing of two remaining Von Trapp family members, have said they will take the case to a court in the capital, Vienna.
Seventy per cent of Americans cite the Sound of Music as their principal reason for visiting Salzburg and it accounts for 1.2m nights spent in the Austrian city each year, making it the world's most-visited film set.
So when the villa came up for lease in 2007, having been occupied for most of the intervening years by the Catholic community, the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, and before that by the SS leader, Heinrich Himmler, investors had no qualms about pumping €250,000 (£218,000) into one of the tourists' sure-fire favourite things.
Their plans, under a 12.5-year lease, included a 14-room hotel, a small museum dedicated to the Von Trapps including pieces of their furniture, memorabilia and family photographs, and a park where tourists could re-enact parts of the film, such as the love scene between Liesl and Rolf the postboy in the gazebo.
On the menu, of course, would be plenty of other things familiar to the Sound of Music fans, such as crisp apple strudel and schnitzel with noodles.
The citizens' initiative, Valuable Aigen, wanted to protect the area from what it called "American trash", fearing coach-loads of tourists. "In your own home you can do what you like, as far as I'm concerned," said its spokesman, Manfred Schitter. "But you can't just open up as a hotel. Besides, I am a Salzburger and this Sound of Music nonsense means nothing to me - Mozart's all that matters."
It should be noted that few in the German-speaking world have even heard of the film, let alone seen it. Attempts to market it as Meine Lieder, Meine Träume (My Songs, my Dreams) were not successful.
Unperturbed, the hotel managers will continue their fight to run the establishment. "We're not giving up, and we're appealing against the ban," said the manager, Marianne Dörfler. "We're very motivated, having the support of so many people from around the world and with the inquiries we've had, we could have been booked out several hundred times already." Supported by celebrities in Salzburg, the hotel has started its own citizens' initiative, the Villa Trapp Club, hoping to temporarily get around the ban.
