Mirabell Gardens - Pegasus Fountain & the Do-Re-Mi Steps
The green heart of every Sound of Music pilgrimage: the winged Pegasus Fountain the children dance around and the stone staircase where they belt out the finale of Do-Re-Mi. It is the postcard Salzburg millions picture, and the perfect place to unpick why the whole world adores a film Austrians barely know.
About this place
The Mirabell Gardens were laid out in their present Baroque form around 1690 for the prince-archbishops of Salzburg, and for hundreds of millions of people worldwide this manicured parterre simply is Salzburg, because it is where the Do-Re-Mi montage reaches its joyful climax in the 1965 film The Sound of Music. Maria and the seven von Trapp children clap their way around the bronze Pegasus Fountain, pat the marble dwarves nearby, skip through the rose arbour, and finish by racing up the broad stone staircase at the south end of the garden, striking the final triumphant chord as the melody climbs. Every one of those spots is real, free, and open to the public from early morning. Yet here is the twist that gives this whole walk its spine: the film is a beloved institution in America, Britain, and much of Asia, drawing over three hundred thousand pilgrims to these paths each year, while most Austrians have never seen it. It flopped on its brief 1965 Austrian release, went undubbed into German for decades, and still raises a weary shrug from the locals who live beside this most famous of film sets.
Key facts
- 1965 year — The Sound of Music was released; the Do-Re-Mi finale was filmed on these very steps
- 300000 fans — Film pilgrims visit Salzburg every year, though most Austrians have never watched it
- 5 Oscars — The film won at the 1966 Academy Awards, including Best Picture