Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Eiffel Tower, designed by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, and reworked by architect Stephen Sauvestre, was built between 1887 and 1889 for the Universal Exhibition in Paris. This puddled iron monument, originally 300 metres high (330 metres with current antennas), was to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. Gustave Eiffel, though not the original designer, was able to make it a symbol of modernity and technical progress, despite the aesthetic controversies of the time.

Inaugurated on March 31, 1889, the tower was initially criticized by artists such as Guy de Maupassant or Émile Zola, who considered it ungrateful. Yet it quickly became an emblem of Paris, attracting nearly 2 million visitors at the Universal Exhibition. Its metal mesh structure, inspired by the principles of material resistance, allowed to break record heights, exceeding all existing monuments until the construction of the Chrysler Building in 1930.

Since its construction, the Eiffel Tower has provided support for scientific experiments, particularly in meteorology and broadcasting. Gustave Eiffel funded research, such as Captain Gustave Ferrié's research on wireless telegraphy, which helped save the monument from the planned destruction after 1909. During the First World War, it played a strategic role in intercepting enemy communications, enhancing its usefulness to the authorities.

In the 20th century, the tower became a major tourist site, with more than 6 million annual visitors since the 1990s. It was listed as a historic monument in 1964 and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. Today, it houses restaurants, viewing spaces, and remains a cultural and technological symbol, while serving as a transmitter for radio and television programmes.

The Eiffel Tower has also inspired many artists, writers and filmmakers, becoming a recurring motif in painting, literature and cinema. Figures such as Robert Delaunay or Roland Barthes explored its symbolic dimension, while films such as René Clair's (1923) sleeping Paris directed it. Its image, protected for its illuminations, is one of the most reproduced in the world.

Finally, the tower underwent several renovations, notably in the 1980s and 2010s, to modernize its infrastructure and preserve its metal structure. Despite the challenges associated with its maintenance and security, it remains a must-see monument to the industrial and cultural history of France.

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