Franz Mathias Wasner (December 28, 1905 – June 21, 1992) was an Austrian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

priest, the director and conductor of the

Trapp Family Singers The Trapp Family (also known as the von Trapp Family) were a singing group formed from the family of former Austrian naval commander Georg von Trapp. The family achieved fame in their original singing career in their native Austria during the i ...

, and a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

. In the quasi-fictionalized stage and screen musical ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'', he is represented by the character Max Detweiler.

Biography

Wasner was born on December 28, 1905, in Feldkirchen near

Mattighofen Mattighofen is a town in the district of Braunau am Inn, part of the Innviertel region, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. History Initially Mattighofen belonged to the stem duchy of Bavaria, that became a part of Francia. In 757 a Kaiserpfal ...

, a small town in

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

. After graduating from the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

, he was ordained a priest and served in the small rural community of Mayrhofen in Tyrol for one year. He studied ecclesiastical law in Rome and graduated in 1934. Father Wasner returned to

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

where he met

Georg von Trapp Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp (4 April 1880 – 30 May 1947) was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy who later became the patriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. Trapp was the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of World W ...

. He and Trapp became close friends, and from that time on he accompanied the Trapp family as director and conductor on all their concert tours. He also composed several Masses and more than 60 songs to texts by various poets such as Ingeborg Bachmann, Christian Morgenstern, and Georg Trakl. In 1958 Wasner decided to do missionary work on the

Fiji Islands Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji cons ...

until 1966. During his stay, he commissioned murals in the small church of his station in Naiserelangi by the French artist

Jean Charlot Louis Henri Jean Charlot (February 8, 1898 – March 20, 1979) was a French-born American painter and illustrator, active mainly in Mexico and the United States. Life Charlot was born in Paris. His father, Henri, owned an import-export business ...

. The

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

appointed him in 1967 rector of the Pontifical Institute Santa Maria dell' Anima in Rome, which he headed until 1981. He died on June 21, 1992 in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasner, Franz 1905 births 1992 deaths Austrian Roman Catholic missionaries 20th-century Austrian Roman Catholic priests Trapp family Male conductors (music) Musical theatre characters Roman Catholic missionaries in Fiji 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian expatriates in Fiji