The main setting of The Sound of Music is the city of Salzburg and the surrounding alpine countryside in Austria, in the late 1930s just before the Anschluss with Nazi Germany.

Main story setting

  • The film takes place primarily in and around Salzburg, Austria , focusing on the von Trapp family home, nearby mountains, and a local abbey.
  • Within the story, key locations include a convent (based on Nonnberg Abbey), the von Trapp villa, Salzburg’s old town squares, and the surrounding hills used for the opening and closing scenes.

Filming versus story world

  • Although the story is set in Austria, some scenes were filmed just across the border in Bavaria, Germany , such as the famous hill where Maria spins and sings “The hills are alive…”.
  • Other sequences mix real Salzburg sites (like Mirabell Gardens and Residenzplatz) with interior sets built later in Hollywood studios, blending authentic Austrian scenery with studio work.

TL;DR: The Sound of Music is set in Salzburg, Austria, and its nearby alpine region shortly before World War II, with a few iconic outdoor scenes actually filmed over the border in Bavaria, Germany.

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