Upon the return to Vienna in May 1908, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Alma Mahler (1879-1964) settled on a new summer residence. They rented quarters in Haus Trenker, a large farmhouse in Altschluderbach near Toblach.

Working in his new 1908-1910 Composing cottage during the last three summers of his life, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) composed Das Lied von der Erde, Symphony No. 9 and the sketch of Symphony No. 10.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

02-10-1957. 1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

02-10-1957. 1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

02-10-1957. 1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

02-10-1957. 1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

02-10-1957. 1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

02-10-1957. 1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

2014. 1908-1910 Trenkerhof. Memorial plaque.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

Year 19091908-1910 TrenkerhofGustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Anna Justine Mahler (Gucki) (1904-1988). Back side 1909.

Year 19091908-1910 Trenkerhof. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Rear view 1909.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof. Rear view 2014.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

1908-1910 Trenkerhof.

Year 1909. Letters from Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) to Frau Alma Mahler (1879-1964) in 1908-1910 Trenkerhof (Villa Trenker, Toblach, Tirol) and in 1909-1911 House Carl Moll II Vienna – Wollergasse No. 10 (Hohe Warte district, Vienna).

Walter Gropius

During the summer of 1910 Alma was taking a prescribed cure at the spa at Tobelbad, where she met and fell in love with the young architect Walter Gropius (1883-1969). Not intending to disclose the affair, she subsequently joined Mahler in Toblach (1908-1910 Trenkerhof).

Opening his mail one day, Mahler found himself reading a letter that Gropius had written to Alma and inadvertently addressed to Gustav Mahler. In the intense ensuing talks between husband and wife, Alma aired her dissatisfactions concerning their marriage, and Gustav, fearful of losing Alma, was thrown into emotional turmoil.

A love-struck Gropius appeared at Altschluderbach at one point, apparently hoping to resolve the situation. Mahler invited him to the Trenkerhof and left  Gropius and Alma alone while he paced in another room, reading the bible. Alma decided not to leave Mahler, but she would carry on a secret relationship with Gropius.

Sigmund Freud

Nevertheless, Mahler was so shaken that he decided to consult with Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) in Leiden, in the Netherlands. (less than a week before the final rehearsals in Munich were due to begin). He and Freud talked one afternoon, to beneficial effect, and Mahler returned to Altschluderbach. See Meeting with Freud in Leiden.

Symphony No. 8

It was during this emotionally overwrought time at Altschluderbach that Mahler took out Alma’s songs, began to play them, and had a change of heart regarding her composing. He also asked her if she would like him to dedicate Symphony No. 8 to her (which he subsequently did).

That summer, besides preparing for the premiere of Symphony No. 8, Mahler was also working on the sketches for his Symphony No. 10. Tortured exclamations scribbled in the margins of the manuscript are testimony to his distraught state of mind – among these, impassioned declarations of love for Alma. To the dismay of many, Alma reprinted these marginal notes in her memoir Gustav Mahler. Erinnerungen und Briefe, published in 1940.

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