Editing Maria von Trapp (section)

===Early life===
Maria was purportedly born on 26 January 1905 to Karl and Augusta (''née'' Rainer) Kuczera.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Taufbuch - 01-197 {{!}} 08., Alservorstadtkrankenhaus {{!}} Wien/Niederösterreich (Osten): Rk. Erzdiözese Wien {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/wien/08-alservorstadtkrankenhaus/01-197/?pg=164 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mujeresenlahistoria.com/2012/05/la-matriarca-maria-von-trapp-1905-1987.html Maria von&nbsp;Trapp biography] accessed 1 March 2016</ref> She says she was delivered on a train on the night of the 25th, during her mother's return from her homeland of [[Tyrol (state)|Tyrol]] to their family residence in [[Vienna]], Austria.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=obit/> She was baptized into the [[Catholic Church]] on the 29th within the [[Alservorstadt]] parish and maternity hospital.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Taufbuch - 01-197 {{!}} 08., Alservorstadtkrankenhaus {{!}} Wien/Niederösterreich (Osten): Rk. Erzdiözese Wien {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/wien/08-alservorstadtkrankenhaus/01-197/?pg=163 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref>

Her father was a [[Commissionaire|hotel commissionaire]],<ref name=":1" /> born in Vienna,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taufbuch - 01-13 {{!}} 09., Rossau {{!}} Wien/Niederösterreich (Osten): Rk. Erzdiözese Wien {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/wien/09-rossau/01-13/?pg=7 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref> the son of Josef Kučera from a [[Moravians|Moravian]] village, [[Vídeň (Žďár nad Sázavou District)|Vídeň]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trauungsbuch - 02-07 {{!}} 09., Rossau {{!}} Wien/Niederösterreich (Osten): Rk. Erzdiözese Wien {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/wien/09-rossau/02-07/?pg=23 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Matriky - ACTA PUBLICA |url=https://www.mza.cz/actapublica/matrika/detail/7263?image=216000010-000253-003380-000000-016447-000000-00-B02781-01750.jp2 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=www.mza.cz}}</ref> Karl was first married in [[Graz]] to Klara Rainer in 1887.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trauungsbuch XXV 1881-1891 - 648 {{!}} Graz-Hl. Blut {{!}} Steiermark: Rk. Diözese Graz-Seckau {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/graz-seckau/graz-hl-blut/648/?pg=285 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref> The couple had a son Karl in 1888 before Klara's death a few months later.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taufbuch 8 1875-1890 - 1530 {{!}} Graz-Mariae Himmelfahrt {{!}} Steiermark: Rk. Diözese Graz-Seckau {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/graz-seckau/graz-mariae-himmelfahrt/1530/?pg=245 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sterbebuch 6 1884-1938 - 1760 {{!}} Graz-Mariae Himmelfahrt {{!}} Steiermark: Rk. Diözese Graz-Seckau {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/graz-seckau/graz-mariae-himmelfahrt/1760/?pg=33 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref> Maria's father remained a widower until he remarried to Klara's younger sister, Augusta, in 1903.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trauungsbuch - 02-06 {{!}} Maria Enzersdorf am Gebirge {{!}} Wien/Niederösterreich (Osten): Rk. Erzdiözese Wien {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/wien/maria-enzersdorf-am-gebirge/02-06/?pg=95 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref> Augusta died of [[pulmonary tuberculosis]] when Maria was nearly 10 months old.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sterbebuch - 03-22 {{!}} 08., Maria Treu {{!}} Wien/Niederösterreich (Osten): Rk. Erzdiözese Wien {{!}} Österreich {{!}} Matricula Online |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/oesterreich/wien/08-mariatreu/03-22/?pg=24 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=data.matricula-online.eu}}</ref> Maria's grief-stricken father left her with his cousin (and foster mother) in [[:de:Kagran|Kagran]],<ref name=":3" /> who also cared for Maria's half-brother Karl after his mother Klara had died. Maria's father then traveled the world, although Maria would visit him upon occasion at his apartment in Vienna. He changed the spelling of their surname to ''Kutschera'' in 1914,<ref name=":2" /> dying at home later that year.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Maria: My Own Story |url=https://dokumen.pub/maria-my-own-story.html |access-date=9 January 2024 |website=dokumen.pub |language=en}}</ref> Her foster mother's son-in-law, Uncle Franz, then became her guardian.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/mariavontrappbey00rans|title=Maria von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music|last=Ransom |first=Candice F. |date=2002|publisher=Carolrhoda Books|isbn=1-57505-444-2|location=Minneapolis|oclc=45064758|url-access=registration}}</ref>

Uncle Franz maltreated Maria and punished her for things she did not do; he was later found to be mentally ill. This changed Maria from a shy child into the teenage "class cut-up", figuring she may as well have fun if she was going to get in trouble either way. Despite this change, Maria continued to get good grades.<ref name=":0" />

After graduating from high school at 15, Maria ran away to stay with a friend, with the intent to become a tutor for children staying at nearby hotels. Because she looked so young, no one took her seriously. Finally, a hotel manager asked her to be umpire for a tennis tournament. Although she did not know what an umpire was and had never played tennis, she took the job.

From this job, she saved enough money to enter the State Teachers College for Progressive Education in Vienna, where she also received a scholarship.<ref name=":0" /> She graduated from there at age 18 in 1923.

In 1924, she entered [[Nonnberg Abbey]], a [[Benedictines|Benedictine]] monastery in [[Salzburg]], as a [[postulant]], intending to become a nun.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mead|first=Wendy|title=Maria von Trapp|url=https://www.biography.com/musician/maria-von-trapp|access-date=1 January 2022|website=Biography|date=16 July 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref>