The question of who really built “the seven-door Thebes”, which Brecht posed in 1935 in Danish exile together with many others (“The young Alexander conquered India. He alone?”) Under the title “Questions from a reading worker”, is generations trusted by students who read the poem in German class.
It is immediately clear that there is justification for re-drilling, and the mourning for all those who gave their physical strength, perhaps their health or even their life for the monuments of human architecture without being remembered, is understandable.
However, some took their fate into their own hands and did not rely on being included, for example when a depot in the foundation stone reminds of the building owners and other dignitaries or holds a current daily newspaper. The renovation of Michigan Central Station in Detroit, which was built in 1913 and closed again in 1988, produced an upside-down beer bottle hidden behind a wall decoration. The label was in good condition; according to the print, the beer was poured in in 1913 and apparently emptied again in the same year. No other bottles were found, so that one can only speculate about the total amount of beer drunk, especially since more bottles and a plate were found.
At least one can guess who was there: Dan Hogan and Geo Smith. The two put a note in the bottle that clearly answered the Brechtian question who built this cathedral of mobility: We, Hogan and Smith, in July 1913! It remains a mystery why the men wrote that they had worked on this “of Chicago” building, maybe it was a few more bottles, and then things can easily get mixed up. Or the location refers to the hometown of the workers, as is now assumed.
Of course, the example cannot be applied to every mammoth project at will. Even if, in this light, one would like to doubt the statement that Wernher von Braun had built the first moon rocket, a beer bottle defiantly placed by the workers involved could not have jeopardized the whole company a little. And when Brecht asks: “Caesar defeated the Gauls. Didn't he at least have a cook with him? ”Then such a companion would hardly have a chance to clearly mark his share. Except, of course, as a supplier of drinks, which could then be walled up behind Caesar's triumphal arch. From this point of view, a third person is missing on the note besides the names Hogan and Smith. We do not find out who supplied them with beer.