Tobias Trakl (originally Trackl) came from Ödenburg (Sopron) in Hungary, where his family can be traced back until the middle of the 17th century, earning a living as winegrowers.

The mother, Maria Catharina Halik (1852–1925), also spelled Hallick or Hawlick, was born in Wiener Neustadt, but her family came from Prague.

In 1904 Grete moved from St. Pölten to Vienna to stay at the boarding school "Notre Dame de Sion".

During the last year (1908–1909) of the "Higher French School" of this institute she was allowed to enroll at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna at the same time.

From autumn 1909 onwards Grete lived on her own in Vienna and was probably privately tutored by a (hitherto unknown) pianist, as was the practice with talented pupils.

In June the father died, an event that elicited the rapid economic downfall of the Trakl family.

The inheritance, which was by law evenly divided between the mother and the children, consisted of a business debt of around 1 million Euros (converted to current purchasing power).

Grete's half-brother Wilhelm was appointed her guardian; as the eldest son of Tobias Trakl he also took over the business.

In 1910 the Hungarian pianist Ernö Dohnányi, professor of music at the Königliche Hochschule für Musik (now called Berlin University of the Arts), selected Grete as one of his pupils.

Arthur is said to have supported Grete financially from March 1911 onwards, because her half-brother Willy and her mother refused to pay the education any further.

This is revealed by the court procedure initiated by Langen in 1912 to acquire legal permission to marry Grete.

Georg, who watched over Grete's talent and well-being, would later regard himself as "the finest matchmaker" between his sister and Langen.

[1] A fifth poem from Grete's collection, Helian's Schicksalslied, has long been in the Ludwig Ficker estate at the Brenner Archiv of the University of Innsbruck.

On 10 March the couple was divorced on the grounds of adultery committed by Grete with Ludwig Ficker and Richard Buhlig.