The fascinating history of the Eiffel Tower

A world record breaker. An unusual, unique beauty. A towering icon that’s as hard as iron. Discover the fascinating history of the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower isn’t just a symbol of Paris, it’s a symbol of France. But this wasn’t supposed to happen. The Tower shouldn’t even be there. But first, we need to go back to the beginning of the tower’s story to find out why it’s even there in the first place.

The birth of the Eiffel Tower

At the end of the 1700s, fairs began in France known as Expositions des produits de l’Industrie Francaise – an exhibition of French industry and products basically. Fairs where you could buy products from around the world have been held in France and other countries since way back – at least as far as the Middle Ages. The Expositions were held regularly in France until the mid 1800s.

In 1851 a new type of fair was held in London – the Great Exhibition – a world fair featuring products from around the globe. It was visited by 6 million people, featured a ‘crystal palace’ a giant glass exhibition hall. And it was a roaring success. Meanwhile in France, the fairs were held only on rare occasions because they simply didn’t make enough of a profit to continue. In fact the fair of 1878 made a horrible loss.

To commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution (1789), it was proposed that France should hold a world exhibition. A huge Exposition Universelles, a Universal Exhibition, to take place in Paris from May to November 1889. And the organisers wanted it to be as successful as the Crystal Palace fair. It would require something special

Now this caused a problem because several countries weren’t happy to take part in something that celebrated cutting the heads off of kings and queens on account of them having royal families. For that reason some countries officially boycotted taking part in the exhibitions – including Great Britain, though funnily enough, the British royals did go to the event as visitors. And some British exhibitors used private funding to have stands.

Now what’s this got to do with the Eiffel Tower you might ask?

Well, the organisers of the Exposition Universelle drew up grand plans for a truly spectacular event. They needed to attract millions of visitors to their fair so as not to lose money, and they wanted to improve the French economy by showcasing the skills of French engineers, designers, chefs, artists – everything and anything, as well as products from all around the world – in one of the world’s great cities – Paris. Although it was about the Centenary of the French Revolution, it was also very much for economic reasons, they hoped that French companies would find new customers.

A winning design

And the organisers wanted to show case something so incredible that people wouldn’t be able to resist seeing it for themselves. They needed what they called a ‘clou’ – a spike, or a hook, basically they wanted a signature structure that would be seen as a symbol of French culture. A competition was announced in 1886 for an architectural design that would make the Paris Exposition irresistible. It required entrants to submit a design for a tower that was three hundred metres high. More than 700 designs were submitted to the committee.

Some of them were easy to judge, including a 300 metre high watering can which the designer said would be good for hot days. Another featured a creepy 300-metre high guillotine.

Now, a tower for an exposition wasn’t a new idea. In Philadelphia which had held a centennial exposition in 1876, the tower proposition had been discussed but went nowhere. But the idea was out there and known about. Some people even think that Gustave Eiffel may have suggested the idea to the Exposition Universelles committee himself. He was a prominent businessman with a construction company that specialised in building metal bridges, railways, cranes and lifting equipment, so it’s very possible. And some say that he had even begun working on the idea before the contest was announced.

It was actually two of Eiffel’s engineers who came up with the original concept of an iron tower. They sketched out the tall, metal tower and Gustave bought the exclusive rights to the draft ideas. He then developed the idea to completion.

On May 12, 1886, Eiffel’s design was announced as the winner of the of the contest.

The Eiffel Tower wasn’t always popular

At first Eiffel felt he was in a bit of a no-win situation. The deal was that he would have to provide most of the money to build it himself, the committee would only provide 1.5m Francs which was less than a quarter of the overall cost. To sweeten the deal the committee agreed that Eiffel would have exclusive rights to keep all income for 20 years created by the tower –from the entry fees and the operation of restaurants and viewing platforms. Eiffel took a risk as he didn’t know if it would be a successful but ultimately it was a brilliant arrangement – for Eiffel. He recuperated his entire input in less than a year and the tower made him a very rich man.

But his design wasn’t always popular. When the plans for the towering monument were published, many people complained. Another committee was formed – this time composed of artists and celebrities in France, they called themselves the Committee of 300 and they campaigned to have the tower cancelled. They wrote that it was ‘a ridiculous tall tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black factory smokestack, crushing with its barbaric mass Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the dome of Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all our humiliated monuments, all our dwarfed architecture, which will be annihilated by Eiffel’s hideous fantasy. For twenty years, over the city of Paris still vibrant with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see, spreading out like a blot of ink, the shadow of this disgusting column of bolted tin’.

The tallest man-made building in the world – for a while

But Eiffel had the last laugh. The Tower was built. It took two years, two months and five days. 500 workers assembled 18,000 iron pieces and put them together with 2.5 million rivets. The building of the tower was completed on 31 March 1889. Gustave raised a French flag and announced: “I have just experienced a great satisfaction – that of having flown our national flag upon the tallest building man has ever built.”

Eiffel’s monument opened to the public 5 weeks later on 15 May. Forming the entrance arch to the fair, it was a jaw dropping sight.

Right from the start it was, excuse the pun, a towering success. It opened to the public on 15 May 1889 although the lifts weren’t ready until May 26. The first visitors were the British Royal Family and William F Cody, AKA Buffalo Bill. In the first week, when the lifts weren’t even working, nearly 30,000 people paid to climb to the viewing platform.

It wasn’t cheap to get into the Paris Exposition– it cost 40 centimes, which doesn’t sound much – except at that time, you could get a meal for 10 centimes. And to climb the Eiffel Tower cost a whopping 5 Francs, a huge amount of money in those days.

By day people flocked to climb it. By night they flocked to watch it glow. It was one of the first tall structures in the world to have passenger lifts – and tourists absolutely loved them. By the time the exposition was over after 173 days, almost 2 million people had paid their 5 Francs to mount Eiffel’s tower. The views from the top, in the days before air travel, beign up so high was astonishing. On a clear day, it’s possible to see 42 miles in every direction from the top of the Eiffel Tower. There were four restaurants on the first floor, each seating up to 500 people, they were constantly booked out. You could even pay for a mini parachute or balloon and tie a message to it to toss over the side. Eiffel made an absolutely fortune.

In September 1889 the famous inventor Thomas Edison visited the tower and wrote in the guestbook: “To Monsieur Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original a specimen of modern engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison”.

The fair itself was a resounding success. There were 61,722 official exhibitors, 25,000 of them from outside France including from Argentina, Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. The whole fair cost 41.5 million Francs to put on. And they made a profit of 8 million Francs. They were also left with an improved public transport system, their reputation was enhanced – and they had all these amazing buildings created for the fair.

A towering success

But the buildings were only supposed to be there for 20 years – including the Tower. It’s incredible to us now to know that the authorities destroyed almost all of the incredible monuments created for this humongous exposition. Only a few are left – the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais, both now museums. If you are ever in Paris and want a relaxing cup of tea or coffee, the Petit Palais is free to enter and has the most gorgeous garden café.

Eiffel was a very clever man. He proposed to the French Military that the tower could host a radio transmitter – and they agreed. So when the 20 years was up, the tower was saved.

Fun facts about the Eiffel Tower

It remained the tallest man-made building in the world for the next 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York took the title. Currently the Eiffel Tower is now 330 metres tall (including antennas, the latest one was put on top last year) – that’s more than three times the height of the Statue of Liberty.

The tower weighs a whopping 10,100 tonnes.

The names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians are permanently affixed to the sides of the tower in 60-centimeter letters just beneath the first platform, with 18 names per side. They were chosen for their discoveries and inventions which Eiffel considered to have increased the frontiers of knowledge – and also because none of them had names more than 12 letters long – which was a necessity to fit into the space he had to place them!

Counting from the ground, there are 347 steps to the first level, 674 steps to the second level, and 1,710 steps to the small platform on the top of the tower. Every year there is a contest to run to the top up 1665 stairs, the fastest do it in 10 minutes. There is a man who holds a world record for climbing the tower by bike! He basically locks the brakes and hops up the stairs – the record is 19 minutes!

Repainting the tower, which happens every seven years, as Gustave Eiffel himself recommended. The old paint has to be scraped off, rust-proof paint applied and then paint – 66 tonnes of paint to cover the 2.5 million square feet of the structure and takes 50 painters up to 3 years to complete because they can only work in the right weather conditions. And it’s painted a different colour each time. Once it was yellow. When it was first created it was ‘Venetian red. The last paint job was finished in November 2022 and it’s called “yellow brown” the same colour it was between 1907 and 1947. The colour is darker at the bottom, it gets lighter as they go up, three different shades which creates an impression of uniformity!

The tower has had many different businesses installed – Le Figaro newspaper had an office and printing press on the second floor during the world fair, on the first floor there used to be a post office and a theatre.

In 1891, an engineer from Grenoble, proposed a giant steel ball-shaped device weighing around 10,000 kilos be installed. The windowless ‘carriage’ would carry passengers, strapped into their seats, and free-fall into a 57m deep filled water pit at the base of the tower. Thankfully they said ‘non.’

Here’s a strange fact – in 1925 the Eiffel Tower was almost sold by a conman by the name of Victor Lustig from what is now the Czech Republic. You can read the whole story here: The day the Eiffel Tower was sold.

In 1960, then President Charles de Gaulle proposed temporarily dismantling the tower and sending it to Montreal for Expo 67. The plan was rejected which must have made a lot of people breathe a sigh of relief – imagine if they had lost one of the 18,000 metal parts or some of the 2.5 million rivets, or if they lost the plans for how it all goes together!

If you’ve ever been up the tower in the wind and thought it was moving – you’re probably right. Maximum sway at the top caused by wind is around 12 cm (4.75 inches). Maximum sway at the top caused by metal dilation is up to 18 cm (7 inches).

The Chamber of Commerce of Monza and Brianza in Italy valued the Eiffel Tower at 434 billion euros in August 2012! Must be much more by now. This apparently makes it Europe’s most valuable commodity.

Today the Eiffel Tower has takeaway food counters, and two restaurants – one is on the first floor and one on the second floor called the Jules Verne after the French writer – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 180 Days. It’s very posh, expensive, and it’s loved by celebrities. Jennifer Aniston, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Arnold Schwarzenegger – they’ve all dined there. Not together of course – I’m not trying to start any rumours here!

There’s also a gift shop, a macaron bar and a Champagne Bar. And at the top you can visit a reconstruction of Gustave Eiffel’s apartment which he used for meetings with VIPS and as a laboratory to study astronomy, meteorology, aerodynamics etc. In 1909 Eiffel installed an aerodynamic wind tunnel at the base of the tower. It was used for thousands of tests including the Wright Brothers airplanes and Porsche cars!

At night Madame Eiffel sparkles. 20,000 bulbs twinkle for 5 minutes on the hour. It’s very lovely to see – and if you’re up the tower when it sparkles, the second floor is the best place to be.

The the tower brings out the romantic in some people – in fact it’s estimated that there are around 20 marriage proposals a day, between 7000 and 10000 marriage proposals every year up the Eiffel Tower or in the Trocadero, the area below. The Tower is one of the top ten places in the world for asking your loved one to marry you! Actually, there is even a woman who was married TO the Eiffel Tower in a commitment ceremony in 2007 though they have since parted.

There are more than 50 Eiffel Tower replicas around the world including in Tianducheng, China where an entire fake Paris town – where people live and work – has been created!

Around 7 million people a year visit the tower, and that’s how it’s a record breaker – it is the world’s most visited, paid monument – truly a towering success.

Janine Marsh is the author of several internationally best-selling books about France. Her latest book How to be French – a celebration of the French lifestyle and art de vivre, is out now – a look at the French way of life.

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