11 Fascinating Eiffel Tower Facts

The Eiffel Tower, popularly called La Dame Fer (Iron Lady), is the top landmark in France. It is a massive structure that measures about 330 meters in height.

The Eiffel Tower has stood for almost a century and a half as a testament to the ingenuity of French engineering and design. However, the structure has a unique history filled with many controversies surrounding its creation, and many secrets about it are worth exploring.

So, get ready and enter the tower of knowledge with us as we dive into 11 facts about the Eiffel Tower.

It Held the Tallest Record for A Long Time

The Burj Khalifa became the tallest building in the world on March 10, 2010. Since then, it has held the title of the world’s tallest structure at 830 meters at its tip. Fourteen years and counting is a long time to have held a title that engineers constantly compete to beat.

However, the Eiffel Tower went way further than anyone thought. It retained the title of the world’s tallest building from 1889 to 1930, about 41 years. Even with the rapid advancement in construction technology, no one could dethrone the incredible feat achieved by French engineers for almost half a century.

A Long History of Painting

Even though it has survived multiple wars and disasters, the Eiffel Tower has faced a tiny condition that could destroy its integrity: rusting. To prevent the tower from failing, its designer, Gustave Eiffel, stated it would need repainting about once every seven years. 

However, upon completing the building, the government realized repainting the structure required about 60 tons of paint per repainting process. 

Out of its 135-year lifespan, the tower has seen 20 renovations. However, this was still unable to save it from rust. There is a race against time and rust to renovate many aspects of the building.

It Was A Very Surprising Build

For a building that held the title of the world’s tallest structure for 41 years, one would think the Eiffel Tower must have taken years to build. However, even though engineers of the 19th century designed it, the building only took two years from the first foundation to its inauguration. 

That’s right, the Eiffel Tower took only two years of construction. After completion, the world was in awe, as many thought such a feat was impossible. 

Fun Fact: Only one person died throughout the building’s construction.

The Eiffel Tower’s History With Parachutes

When it became the tallest building in the world, the Eiffel Tower attracted a new breed of people: those who wanted to test a new invention of slowing flight through the air, also called parachuting. 

Among the pioneers of this new technology was Franz Karl Reichelt. He petitioned the police multiple times to test his inventions but failed. However, luck came when he was allowed to conduct his parachuting test. 

When Franz arrived at the Eiffel on February 4, 1912, he wanted to experiment with himself rather than with dummies. 

Everyone tried dissuading him from such a deadly act, but he refused. Franz took to the first platform of the tower and jumped. However, his invention failed, and he plummeted to his death. 

He became the first person to die at the hands of the Eiffel Tower. Since then, about 300 people have lost their lives in the tower.

One Man Funded The Eiffel Tower

Though it has become the French people’s pride, the government never fully funded the Eiffel. Instead, one man, Gustave Eiffel, paid for about 80% of the construction. 

Gustave took a 20% subsidy from the City of Paris to complete his building, and shockingly, he paid within the first year as the tower attracted over 2 million visitors.

Artists Hated It

Many think the French were in awe of the Eiffel Tower’s idea. However, the complete opposite was the case. Gustave Eiffel fought an uphill battle to make people love his concept more, but artists who were critical of the structure’s intersection of engineering and art were not budging.

Artists hated the Eiffel Tower’s idea that they wrote a letter to Adolphe Alphand, the then Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition. It read:

We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection … of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.

Yikes, they hated it.

The Eiffel Tower Versus The Con Artist

Have you heard the tale of the man who sold the Eiffel Tower as scrap metal TWICE?

Victor Lustig was a notorious con artist who lived in 1920s France. When he traveled to Paris, he saw an article on how the tower faced maintenance issues; this sparked an idea in his mind.

Victor invited a group of scrap metal dealers and introduced himself as the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs (Ministère de Postes et Télégraphes). He convinced the men of plans to tear down the Eiffel due to its issues.

One of the dealers, André Poisson, showed more interest in the project, making him Lustig’s target. After the dealers submitted their bids, Lustig arranged a private meeting with André and convinced him he was a corrupt official who would sell the tower for 70,000 Francs.

However, on receiving the money, Lustig fled to Australia. He knew André would not go to the police due to the shadiness of the business, and he was right.

Though he got away with the first scam, Ludwig’s greed got to him as he tried scamming another group of dealers. However, he was caught and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Tower’s Role in World War I

German forces marched on France as World War I raged throughout Europe. However, they never noticed their broadcasts were unsafe. 

Unknown to them, the French used the Eiffel Tower’s radio and telegraph center to intercept enemy radio waves. They also used it for communication between French ground troops and battleships due to its extraordinary height.

So Many Visitors

As the most popular attraction in France, it should come as no surprise that the Eiffel Tower is the most visited structure in Paris. It is the world’s most visited paid monument, attracting about 7 million people annually.

The Eiffel’ Tower’s unique position makes it the most valuable European monument at 435 billion euros.

Awesome Stats

Many people look at the Eiffel Tower and see only a metallic structure. However, the building has incredible details, including 80 kilometers (50 miles) of cables, 20,000 light bulbs for illumination, 1665 stairs, and 120 antennas.

Would you love to visit the Eiffel Tower someday? Tell us in the comments.

It Has Beaten the Odds

Besides being an engineering marvel, the Eiffel Tower has lived 675% above its planned lifespan. The structure was to fall 20 years after its construction, but 135 years later, it stands, showing the ingenuity of French engineers and architects.

Conclusion

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