Gertrude Tripp, née Weigner, studied art history, auxiliary sciences of history and archaeology in Vienna and obtained her doctorate in 1939 with a work on Mediterranean glass painting in Austria. After working as an unpaid intern in the Picture Gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, she joined the Institut für Denkmalpflege (Institute for Monument Preservation). In summer 1941 she went on a business trip to Bad Aussee, where she was responsible for reorganizing the Heimathaus and cataloguing the seized collection belonging to Stephan Mautner. In September 1942 she returned to the Kunsthistorisches Museum as a research employee. She was assigned to Klosterneuburg, where she completed an inventory of the monastery's art history objects, reorganized the collections and helped with salvaging work. From 1946 until her retirement in 1981, she worked again at the Bundesdenkmalamt (Federal Monuments Authority), among other things as head curator in Linz and vice-chairperson of the monuments advisory board.

She was married to the prehistorian Hubert Tripp, who was killed in the war at the end of April 1945.