12:37pm UK, Monday May 19, 2008

Plans to turn the 'Sound Of Music' villa outside Salzburg into a hotel have struck the wrong chord with local people.

The Von Trapp villa

Tourism officials announced last week that the former home of the von Trapp family, made famous by the Hollywood hit musical, will be open to the public for the first time from July.

Fans will be able to sleep in the family's former bedrooms for around £80 a night or get married in the chapel.

Little will be changed to keep the authenticity other than essentials such as painting and re-wiring.

"The hotel really is a milestone for the commercialisation of The Sound Of Music for Salzburg," said Leo Bauernberger from the Salzburg provincial tourism board.

An estimated 40% of overnight stays in Salzburg are from fans of the film and opponents say the neighbourhood is already teeming with tourists.

Organisers of a protest group say they were not consulted and they will fight the hotel plan "with all means at our disposal."

The von Trapp family lived in the house from 1923 before fleeing the Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938.

The true story of how aspiring nun Maria sang her way into the hearts of Baron von Trapp and his seven children was made into the 1965 film.

Based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, it starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer and included well-known songs such as Maria, Do-Re-Mi, My Favourite Things and the classic line from the title number: 'The hills are alive with the sound of music'.

After the von Trapps left the house, Nazi security chief Heinrich Himmler used the villa until 1945.

A missionary order which bought the residence after World War II has agreed to sell it for use as a hotel.