Protests Over Plan to Create 'Sound of Music' Hotel in Austria

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The hills are alive ... with the sound of protest.

Tourism officials in Salzburg, Austria, announced plans last week to turn the Von Trapp house featured in 'The Sound of Music' into a hotel. Many locals oppose the move.

(amazon.com/AP Photo)

Angry Austrians living near a Salzburg villa that once belonged to the Von Trapp family immortalized in the blockbuster hit movie "The Sound of Music" are fighting plans to turn the home into a hotel.

Opponents have said the neighborhood already is teeming with tourists drawn to the area where the 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer was made.

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Organizer Andreas Braunbruck told Austrian television that neighbors intend to fight the hotel plan "with all means at our disposal."

Salzburg tourism officials had previously announced plans last week to open the property and an adjacent park to the public for the first time.

But local residents complain they weren't consulted.

The Villa Trapp is located on the outskirts of Salzburg and once housed the von Trapp family, which gained global fame in a 1965 film starring Julie Andrews. The movie tells the story of an Austrian woman who married a widower with seven children and teaches them music.

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