 As well as being described by family relatives as "living for her family... a shield for her husband against any inconveniences or concerns", Gertrud von Hindenburg was also generally considered as someone of great wit and "better-read than her husband".She had a keen interest in theater, music, and painting, and corresponded with many prominent contemporaries, such as the industrialist and politician Walther Rathenau, whom shortly before her death she urged he accept the post of Foreign Minister.Once married, Mrs. von Hindenburg accompanied her husband to his various relocations as troop commander and staff officer in Stettin, Karlsruhe, Berlin, Magdeburg and, finally, to Hanover after her husband's 1911 retirement.