PLANS to run a hotel from a former home of the von Trapp family immortalised in The Sound of Music have triggered fierce resistance from neighbours, who fear the area will be swamped by tourists.
Locals cite the unwelcome impact of increased traffic, but some claim residents fear the area will become a mecca for gay men, for whom the film is iconic, and elderly visitors.
Resistance to the idea of turning the family pile in Salzburg into
the Sound of Music Hotel is growing in Austria. And in the wake of the Amstetten cellar nightmare, when the country needs all the good public relations it can get, locals seem not to care if they are portrayed as grumps.
"A tourist attraction like this will make parking a nightmare for residents," said Andreas Braunbruck. "Nobody talked to us about it – we were the last to be consulted. We will fight this with all means at our disposal."
But Juergen Greiner, a local man, who is gay, said: "Forget this nonsense about parking; they are a conservative lot here and they think gay men are obsessed with The Sound of Music and will bear down on them and bring loose morals to the area. Which wouldn't be a bad thing."
Another resident told Bavaria Radio in Germany: "The thought of busloads of blue-rinse old dears arriving here gives us all the willies."
As The Sound of Music is the ultimate happy-ending film – the Trapp family fled to the United States from the Nazi regime, survived and returned, and their story was embellished in song with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer – those behind the project to refurbish their home into a 14-room B&B shrine to the faithful probably thought they couldn't go wrong. About 40 per cent of all visitors to Salzburg come because it is associated with the 1965 film.
The refurbishment, which cost nearly £400,000, also contains elements to appeal to history buffs. Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, commandeered the villa during the Second World War for his use. Swastikas carved into the furniture can still be seen.
Although The Sound of Music has become a classic and enjoys a cult following in many English-speaking nations 43 years after it premiered, many locals know little about it, as the film was never dubbed into German or widely distributed in Austria.
Wilfried Haslauer, a Salzburg tourism official, announced plans last week to refashion the villa into a hotel.
Mr Haslauer said the park surrounding the villa would also be open to the public. Refreshments and souvenirs would be sold in a pavilion to be built there and furnishings that belonged to the family would be displayed.
"Finally, after decades, this wonderful place will be opened to the public," Mr Haslauer said.
But Manfred Schitter, who also lives nearby, does not think it is so wonderful. "Nobody ever talked to us about all this," he said. "When you want to make something like this, you ought to speak to those who oppose it."
In an attempt to placate protesters, tourism officials have said access to the street where the building is located will be restricted to public transport, cutting down on cars and tour buses.
That has done little to mollify protesters, however. One told the Austrian News newspaper: "We're just a little bit sick of The Sound of Music in general. It's a strange marketing device for a city where Mozart was born, to push him into second place behind a Hollywood movie."
Mr Braunbruck, the protest organiser, said he just wanted a little peace and quiet.
"Tourist attractions have only one purpose," he said, "and that's to bring in people."
The full article contains 626 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
