A Brief History Of The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is an observation and broadcasting tower, located in the Champ De Mars in Paris, France. It was named after the engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the monument. The Eiffel Tower was constructed between 28 January 1887 and 15 March 1889, its grand opening ceremony occurred on 31 March 1889. Initially, the Eiffel Tower was strongly criticised by some of France's most notable artists and intellectuals because of its unconventional design. In that era, many French scholars despised the Eiffel Tower so intensely that they began disrespectfully referring to it as 'The Iron Asparagus'. However, over the ensuing generations the Eiffel Tower had gained so much widespread respect that it was affectionately termed 'La Dame de fer' meaning ' The Iron lady' in French. It is thought that this nickname originated when Citroen cars started using the Eiffel Tower as a giant commercial billboard between 1925 and 1934, at that time this event was recorded as the biggest advertisement in the world by the Guinness Book of Records. Presently, the Eiffel Tower is established as a global cultural icon and is a quintessential symbol of France. It is also one of the most famous and recognizable monuments in the world. The city of Paris currently owns the Eiffel Tower, and the management of the building has been entrusted to 'Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel', 99% of which is owned by the city of Paris. While the remaining 1% is owned by the Métropole du Grand Paris.

The Eiffel Tower was envisioned during discussions to create an ideal centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution which occurred in 1789. The Eiffel Tower was predominantly built from an interlaced framework structure of wrought iron, and its measurements are 324 meters (1,063 ft.) high, and it is the highest building in France (at the time of this article), with 1,665 steps from the Esplanade to the apex. The Eiffel Tower has a square base, which measures 125 meters (410 feet) on each side. It had taken between 150 - 300 workers to complete the monument, unfortunately, during its construction phase there was one fatality. The Eiffel Tower holds the record as the first building in the world to surpass the 200 meter and 300-meter mark in height. The building has three levels for visitors, and it contains first class restaurants situated on the first level called Madame Brasserie, and the second level called Le Jules Verne. Meanwhile, the highest platform is 906 feet above the ground, moreover, between 1889 and 1930, the Eiffel Tower held the record as the tallest building in the world, until it was eventually superseded by the equally impressive Chrysler building in New York, United States, which was built in 1930.

The Eiffel Tower: Alexandre Gustave Eiffel

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born 1832 - died 1923) was born in Dijon, France, his birth name was Bönickhausen dit Eiffel, and his German parents were Catherine-Mélanie and Alexandre Bönickhausen dit Eiffel. Gustave Eiffel's ancestors adopted the name Eiffel as a reference to the Eifel mountains situated in a region of Germany, from where his parents eventually emigrated to France. Gustave Eiffel was a very ambitious pupil and he achieved excellent grades at school, after which he gained a place at the graduate of Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. and after his graduation, Gustave Eiffel gained his first employment in 1856, as a private secretary to Charles Nepveu, who was a railway engineer. Unfortunately, a short time later, Charles Nepveu's company became bankrupt, after which he offered Eiffel employment designing bridges for the Sainte Germaine Railway. Eiffel seized the opportunity presented to him, immersed himself enthusiastically in his work assignments, and subsequently won critical acclaim for his accomplishments, which increased his reputation, and his achievements eventually earned him a promotion to the Bureau Chief at Pauwels and Cie, in 1857.

Gustave Eiffel's first major project was the construction of the Bordeaux railway bridge over the river Garonne. After Gustave completed this project successfully, he received high praise from notable figures including, French engineer and politician Jean Baptiste Krantz, and French architect Stanislas de la Roche Toulay. Gustave was also commissioned to construct two railway stations in France called Toulouse and Agen, in addition, in 1866, he was given a contract to manage the construction of 33 locomotives (rail transport vehicles) for the Egyptian government. In 1868, Gustave Eiffel established a business partnership with Théophile Seyrig, who was a previous fellow student at Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. The new business was called Eiffel et Cie, and this company eventually won several major contracts to design bridges for the French railway network. Nevertheless, in 1879, Gustave's partnership with Seyrig abruptly ended due to business complications, then Gustave took over the company, and renamed it Compagnie des Etablissements Eiffel.

Some of Gustave Eiffel's most notably achievements were the Garabit Viaduct, a famous arch railway bridge spanning the Truyére, near Ruynes-en-Margeride, Cantal, in France, and the Maria Pia Bridge in Portugal. Gustave Eiffel had assisted with the creation of the famous Statue of Liberty, which was primarily designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The Statue of Liberty was also known as 'Liberty Enlightening the World' and it was presented to Levi Parsons Morton, who was the then US ambassador to France, on 4 July 1884, in Paris, as a gift from France to the United States. But before the Statue of Liberty could be transported to the USA it was disassembled and placed on the French Navy ship Isére. The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York harbour, on 17 June 1885, to a vast welcome crowd of jubilant Americans. But Gustave Eiffel's crowning glory is the creation of the Eiffel Tower, and Gustave had openly confessed that the original idea for the Eiffel Tower was inspired by the Latting Observatory building in New York City, which was built in 1853.

The Eiffle Tower: The Designers

The specially selected group of visionaries who worked together to design the Eiffel Tower were Gustave Eiffel, Maurice Koechlin (born 1856 - died 1946), who was a Franco-Swiss structural engineer, Emile Nouguier (born 1840 - died 1897), who was a French architect and civil engineer, and also Charles Leon Stephen Sauvestre (born 1847 - died 1919), who was a French architect. However, it is important to note that there is a mention of an architect called Charles Auguste Duval (born 1800 - died 1870) who it is said had also contributed to the design of the Eiffel Tower, even though his name is rarely mentioned as a contributor. There is somewhat of a controversy about Charles Auguste Duval's true heritage, nonetheless, in his time, Duval was a well-known successful French architect. Émile Nouguier graduated from École Polytechnique, in Paris, in 1861, after which he enrolled in and eventually graduated from École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, in 1865, and following his graduation, in 1867, he gained employment working for Compagnie des Etablissements Eiffel. Émile Nouguier was also famous for his contributions to several other major works, such as the Garabit Viaduct, a famous arch railway bridge spanning the Truyére, in France, and he also assisted with creating the Faidherbe Bridge, in Senegal.

Charles Leon Stephen Sauvestre (born 1847 - died 1919), was a notable French architect who had graduated with first class honours from École Spéciale d'Architecture, in 1868. He contributed to the decorative aspects of the Eiffel Tower, such as the decorative arches, the glass pavilion on level one, the cupola situated at the summit of the building, as well as other ornamental designs for the building, including the meticulous paintwork. In addition, Charles Leon was eventually promoted to head of the architecture department of Compagnie des Etablissements Eiffel. Maurice Koechlin (born 1856 - died 1946) was a Franco-Swiss structural engineer, who had studied civil engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland, between 1873 and 1877. He began working for the French railway company Chemin de Fer de l'Est, from 1877 until 1879, and then later in 1879, he gained employment working for Gustave Eiffel's company, after Gustave Eiffel eventually retired from the engineering profession in 1893, Maurice Koechlin then took over as Managing Director of Eiffel's organisation, at which point the company was renamed Société de construction de Levallois-Perret.

The Eiffel Tower: The Convention

After French politician Edward Lockroy was elected minister of commerce and industry in 1886. He oversaw a budget for the exposition, and set up a commission on 12 of May 1886, with the aim to examine Eiffel's building proposal and the other contenders who were offering a centre piece for the exposition. It was reported that Edward Lockroy was in favour of building the Eiffel Tower, therefore, he controversially changed the requirements for the competition, namely, the new requirements stated that entrants must include a detailed research for a 980 feet four-sided metal tower on the Camp de Mars, in Paris, as a result, it was a forgone conclusion that Eiffel's proposal would win the competition. Approximately one month later, Eiffel's monument design was awarded the contract, which was signed on 8 January, 1887, by Gustave Eiffel and the other representatives, including Edward Lockroy Minister of Commerce, on behalf of the national government, and Eugène Poubelle, prefect for the Seine, on behalf of the City. The convention stated in Article 11 that Gustave Eiffel's company would build the Tower at his own expense, but additionally, the government granted 1.5 million francs towards constructing the Eiffel Tower. The construction engineers who had appraised the work, estimated the cost for completing the Eiffel Tower to be about 6.5 million francs. However, upon completion of the building, the actual cost was 7,799, 401.31 francs. The Eiffel Tower was completed in 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days. The Tower is said to weigh about 10,100 metric tons and has 1,665 steps. The building was assembled from 18,000 parts, which were meticulously calculated to a tenth of a millimetre, meanwhile, the on-site construction, which formed larger sections were held together by 2.5 million rivets.

The Eiffel Tower was intended as a temporary exhibition monument to present the centennial of the French Revolution. Therefore, the French authorities scheduled for the entire building to be dismantled, immediately after the exhibition. But after the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, as an expression of gratitude to Gustave Eiffel, the French government offered Gustave Eiffel a permit for the Eiffel Tower, which was due to expire in 1909. The government permit offered Gustave Eiffel's company a reasonable time to recuperate any financial losses incurred relating to the project, and make a significant profit margin, after which, the Eiffel Tower was scheduled to be taken over by the city of Paris, since the land which it had been built upon was owned by the city. However, because the Eiffel Tower proved extremely valuable for radio telegraphy services as well as several other services, and in addition, it became very popular with the general public as an observation venue, eventually, it was decided that the Eiffel Tower would remain open for an indefinite time.

The Eiffel Tower: Artists Against The Eiffel Tower

After the proposition for the Eiffel Tower had been published to the French public, several notable artistic scholars and architects who had disliked its design, subsequently, made concerted attempts to prevent the monument from being built. The strength of feeling opposing the construction of the Eiffel Tower was so acrimonious that a movement was formed called 'Committee of Three Hundred', which was headed by the famous French architect Charles Garnier. The list had included several prominent French figures of literature and the Arts, who lived in France at that time, such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Gay de Maupassant, Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet, François Coppée, Leconte de Lisle, and Sully Prudhomme. This movement had put forward a petition called 'Artists against the Eiffel Tower', which was sent to Adolphe Alphand, who was the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition. The controversy was further intensified, when the petition was published by a popular newspaper in Paris, called 'Le Temps' on 14 February 1887. The petition was a bitter critique from a wide spectrum of artists, who had expressed their grievances and opposition to its construction, and had painted a prospect of depressing gloom across the city of Paris, providing the Eiffel Tower was permitted to be constructed. They cited that the Eiffel Tower was a monstrosity which had no aesthetic beauty, and they also stated that its instalment would tarnish the good reputation of the city of Paris, since Paris had already established a global reputation, as the capital of artistic excellence. Gustave Eiffel responded with a spirited defence of his project, firstly by comparing the Eiffel Tower to the ancient pyramids, and then he outlined the Eiffel Tower's practical uses, and finally finished his statement by saying that the Eiffel Tower would be a symbol of the modern era, and the accomplishments and advancements in art and science in Europe, especially, the scientific movement of the 18th century, and the French Revolution of 1789.

The Eiffel Tower: Elevators Systems & Refurbishments

The implementation of an elevator system for the Eiffel Tower was a considerable challenge to install, partly due to safety concern for the government commission overseeing the project. In view of the unprecedented height of the Eiffel Tower, a vertical lift system from the ground floor to the building's apex was not a viable option. Therefore, it was decided that elevator systems had to be constructed along the perpendicular incline of the building. Despite adverts for a much-preferred French company to volunteer their services for this project, none was forthcoming to take on this special assignment. However, the Otis Brothers & Company (US organization), possessed the experience, technology, and expertise to undertake the challenge, and eventually they were awarded a contract covering most of the work pertaining to implementing the elevator systems and carriages. Meanwhile, a French company called Roux Combaluzeir & Lepape were contracted to carry out the implementation of elevator systems in the east and west legs, from the ground floor to the first level of the Eiffel Tower. Initially, the complex mechanisms for the elevator systems were operated by a powerful hydraulic system connected to a large reservoir, which was situated on the second level of the Eiffel Tower. However, throughout the 20th century, there were several highly reputable engineering organisations that contributed to the upgrading of the elevator systems for the Eiffel Tower, two of which were French elevator companies called, Schneider Electric, and Five-Lille.

The Eiffel Tower was first opened to the general public in 1889, and over many generations it has become a daily hive of activity, ever proving to be a magnificent attraction for human curiosity, many of whom have travelled from various parts of the world particularly to experience the exciting prospect of ascending the famous building, as a result, from its incipiency ongoing maintenance has been carried out on different parts of the building for continual modernisations and refurbishments, particularly throughout the mid to late 20th century. Work was undertaken for the renovation and reconstruction of new restaurants, modern lift systems, stairways, also, there are over 20,000 electric light bulbs installed across the entire structure, which requires ongoing daily maintenance, as well as other important maintenance tasks.

The Eiffel Tower: Structural Fortifications

In the modern era, the Eiffel Tower was the first building to exceed a height of 300 meters. Importantly, before the Eiffel Tower began construction, there were a several notable architects and structural engineers, who had expressed grave concerns about whether such a tall building would be robust enough to withstand extreme impacts of the most severe weather systems over the course of time. However, Gustave Eiffel had promptly responded by reminding his sceptics of the numerous projects that he and his team of experts had already accomplished, including the many famous bridges that they had designed and built across France and within other nations, and further reassured them that he and his team were well versed in the complex laws of structural engineering relating to the severe impacts of natural weather elements and gravity. The type of iron used to build the Eiffel Tower underwent a long refining process termed 'Puddling' which resulted in eradicating any carbon and certain other impurities from the iron ore, and in that era, this purification process was a cutting-edge technology, which eventually produced a much stronger material called wrought iron. In addition, the Eiffel Tower was created with the application of complicated mathematical formulas with the aim to enable the structure to withstand the most severe storms over an indefinite period of time, moreover, it was designed so that powerful currents caused by storms ebbed through and around its scientifically structural shape. The Tower is also designed to be flexible enough on the upper levels to sway between approximately 7 cm and 9 cm, which further increased the fortification of the building. Once the Eiffel Tower was completed Gustave Eiffel recommended that the entire building be painted once every seven years with the aim to avoid rust, and this tradition has continued to the present day.

The Eiffel Tower: A Chequered History

After the German occupation of France in 1940, the Eiffel Tower lift cables were cut by the French authorities, with the intention of forcing the German troops to ascend the Eiffel Tower by walking up the stairway, whenever they visited or utilized it for communication purposes. After 4 years of Nazi-occupation, the liberation of Paris became imminent when allied forces approached Paris in August 1944. Meanwhile, French resistance fighters helped to hasten French liberation by engaging in street battles with German forces. However, on 23 August 1944, Adolph Hitler infamously commanded General Dietrich Von Choltitz, who was the military governor of Paris at that time, to demolish the Eiffel Tower and the city of Paris. Adolph Hitler intended to leave only the ruins of Paris for his enemies to claim, but fortunately, General Choltitz refused to carry out the command, which proved too offensive for Von Choltitz's conscience to ignore. As a result, ironically, Von Choltitz is sometimes fondly referred to as the Saviour of Paris. The Eiffel Tower had remained closed to the French public during the German occupation, and the French authorities did not fully repair the lift system until after the war in 1946.

Unfortunately, on 3 January 1956, a fire started in the television transmitter location area of the Eiffel Tower, which caused considerable damage to the top level of the building. The ongoing repairs took one year to complete, and in 1957 a replacement radio transmitter was installed. At one time in history the Eiffel Tower gained a reputation as the chosen venue for certain inventors to test their inventions, as a result, unfortunately, there were some tragedies. Some of which were, Austro-Hungarian Franz Reichelt (born 1878 - died 1912) was a French tailor, inventor, and parachuting pioneer, who died after he attempted to demonstrate his parachute creation by jumping from the Eiffel Tower, in 1912. Over a decade later, French aircraft pilot Leon Collet (born 1866 - died 1926), also tragically died when he attempted to fly under a section of the Eiffel Tower, his airplane became entangled with an aerial that belonged to a wireless station, which had been connected to the Eiffel Tower.

The original construction of the Eiffel Tower included a meteorology laboratory situated either at or close to the summit of the building, which was once utilized for various scientific experiments, and the laboratory was in close proximity to Gustave Eiffel's small private apartment, which was built exclusively for his personal requirements and he sometimes used it for entertaining special guests. Currently that apartment is open to the public for viewing, complete with vintage decorations from that era, and several imitation mannequins of Gustave Eiffel along with his famous guests in that generation. Throughout its history the Eiffel Tower has been a show case for the public appreciation, but it has also been utilized for business services, such as an observation and broadcasting tower, and it has also maintained its popularity as a venue for various organisations to showcase their services, as well as a venue for special national celebratory events. In addition, the Eiffel Tower remains one of France's most popular and extraordinary assets, and it contributes significantly to the wealth and attraction of France's tourism industry.

When the Eiffel Tower was first introduced as a venue to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution, the idea caused a French furore, which arose from a tidal wave of scholars and academics from within the higher echelons of France’s artistic society. This movement was viewed as an opposition army of artists, who had waged a battle of wills against the French political establishment at that moment, aiming to prevent the monument from being constructed. However, following Eiffel Towers construction, over generations, its reputation has evolved triumphantly, to be perceived by many people around the globe as a fascinating symbol of France's creativity, and prestige, in addition, it is the enduring legacy of the great visionary architects, who created the structure many generations ago. According to official statistics about 7 million people visit the Eiffel Tower each year (about 75 percent of which are foreigners), making it the most visited paid for admission monument in the world to date.

Written by Star_gazer

Published 17 June 2026