We have found out more about several people involved in the work
thanks to construction site reports.
Charles Dickely
This metal-worker from Orschwiller (a village located at the
foot of the castle), was in charge of the iron-workers. His team
made all of the castle's iron objects (locks, portcullises, chains
etc) and set up and maintained machinery.
Until 1905, he walked to the castle every day. Later on he slept
on site, beneath the forge and kept his animals in the lower
courtyard at Oedenburg! After the castle was unveiled to the
public, he made several more decorative objects, including the fire
screen in the Kaiser's room, which he forged with his son, Armand.
At the same time, he led guided tours of the château.
Henri Brenner
The foreman of the carpentry team. He was already well-known in
this field when Bodo Ebhardt asked if he would become a foreman,
taking his orders directly from him. He got married in 1905 and
walked to the château every day from Châtenois (a village about ten
kilometres from the castle) where his descendants still live
today.
He was involved in finishing and fitting work until 1910. In
1908 his work was recognized with the award of a commemorative
bronze medal, one of only nine to have been awarded.
Wages
Charles Dickely and the cook, Rosalie Gassmann, were paid
monthly. After a strike in May 1902, the quarry-men were paid
according to the number of stones they cut out. All other workers
were paid an hourly rate and received their pay every two
weeks.
They were also entitled to sick leave, invalidity benefit and a
pension when they retired. From 1904 onwards, compensation was paid
to those injured in accidents at work and, for workers killed
during workplace accidents, to their widows. This compensation was
funded from a percentage of the money made from the sale of
entrance tickets, which first went on sale in 1904. The château was
actually open to the public all the time that work was going on.
The entrance fee made up for the time that the workers spent
showing the increasingly large numbers of visitors around.