Gaaden – family residence of Georg II Anton and Emilie „Emy“ Mautner Markhof

At the end of the 1920s, Georg II Anton acquired a plot of land of around 80 hectares between Gaaden and Siegenfeld in Lower Austria. As neither electricity nor water connections were available, these had to be installed first and plans for a transformer in the forest and a well were submitted in 1927. From 1928 to 1931, he then built the “Landgut zwei Eichen” estate on a small hill, named after two large oak trees that still stand in the courtyard to this day. Originally, Gaaden was only intended as a summer residence. Unfortunately, Georg II was only able to enjoy the paradise he had created for a short time, as he died there on 16 September 1934. After his death, his widow Emy continued to live there and Gaaden, whose location was also ideally suited geographically, became a family center for all children and grandchildren.

Many vivid accounts of life in Gaaden can be found in the German edition of “Nana’s Memories”.