© 2014 The Weekly Plan. All rights reserved.
OPENING OF THE EIFFEL TOWER
The Eiffel Tower is one of the most recognisable structures
on the planet today and has become an iconic symbol of
France. However, it has not always been regarded as
such a global landmark, in fact its beginnings were met
with a lot of controversy…
In 1889, Paris hosted a World Fair to mark the 100-year
anniversary of the French Revolution. A competition was
held to design and build a monument to be built on the
Champ-de-Mars, located in central Paris. The monument
was to serve as the Fair’s entrance. More than 100 artists
submitted plans, however the commission was granted to
Gustave Eiffel’s engineering company. The Eiffel Tower
was named after Gustave Eiffel, however, it was actually
two men who worked for his company, Maurice Koechlin
and Emile Nouguier, who came up with the original
drawings for the monument. The pair had also previously
worked on the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty.
Eiffel rejected the 2 men’s original plan for the tower,
instructing them to make it look more ornate. The final
design called for more than 18,000 pieces of iron and 2.5
million rivets. Eiffel wanted to construct the tower using
iron to prove that metal could be just as strong as stone
while being lighter.
Construction of the Eiffel Tower began in July 1887. It was
met with protests from a group of 300 artists, sculptors,
writers and architects who petitioned to halt construction of
the "ridiculous tower", claiming that it would dominate Paris
like a "gigantic black smokestack." Many Parisians also
feared it was structurally unsound. A novelist, Guy de
Maupassant, hated the tower so much that legend has it,
he ate his lunch in the restaurant at its base, claiming it
was the only place from which he could completely avoid
viewing it!
Despite the protests, several hundred workers spent two
years assembling the framework of the iconic lattice tower.
Construction of the Eiffel Tower cost 8 million French gold
francs in 1889 (about $1.5 million).
MARCH 31 1889
Each of the 18,000 pieces were made in Eiffel's
factory on the outskirts of Paris. 7,300 tons of iron
were used and when completed the tower weighed
10,000 tons. Workers used 60 tons of paint to cover
every inch of the structure. Since then, the tower has
been repainted every 7 years to protect it from rust.
The Eiffel Tower was opened on March 31, 1889. At
its inauguration, the Eiffel Tower stood just over 300
metres high and was the tallest manmade structure in
the world for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in
New York surpassed it.
It was understood that the structure was temporary
and would be removed after 20 years, but Gustave
Eiffel was not keen on seeing his favourite project
dismantled. Eiffel installed a meteorology laboratory
on the third floor of the tower and invited scientists to
use the lab for their studies on everything from gravity
to electricity. He thought if the tower became
indispensable to the scientific community then it would
not be dismantled. In the end, it was the tower's height
that saved it as the Eiffel Tower was used as a
wireless telegraph transmitter. It helped the French
military communicate with ships and intercept enemy
messages during World War 1.
The Eiffel Tower escaped destruction a second time
during World War II. Hitler ordered the tower’s
demolition but fortunately the command was never
carried out. Also during the German occupation of
Paris, French resistance fighters famously cut the
Eiffel Tower’s elevator cables so that the Nazis had to
climb the stairs.
Today, the Eiffel Tower is still the centerpiece of Paris
and is the most visited paid monument in the world.
Since its opening, over 250 million people from
around the world have visited it. The tower now
© 2014 The Weekly Plan. All rights reserved.
OPENING OF THE EIFFEL TOWER
MARCH 31 1889
stands at 324 metres tall, including the antenna which
was added in 1957. Tickets can be purchased to ascend
by stairs or elevator to the first and second levels.
Although there are stairs to the third and highest level,
these are usually closed to the public and it is generally
only accessible by elevator. One elevator travels a total
distance of 103,000 km a year. There are also 1,710
steps.
The tower was built to sway slightly in the wind, but the
sun ended up affecting the tower more. As the sunfacing side of the tower heats up, the top moves as
much as 18 cm. The sun also causes the tower to grow
about 15 cm.
500 employees are responsible for its day to day
running. They work in restaurants, security, man the
elevators and work as tour guides. The French name for
the Eiffel Tower is La Tour Eiffel, it also has the
nickname La dame de fer which means ‘the iron lady’.
Being so popular, the Eiffel Tower has inspired more
than 30 replicas and similar structures around the world.
These include a half scale replica at the Paris Las Vegas
Hotel in Nevada, USA and the full scale Tokyo Tower in
Japan.
Discussion Questions
Factual
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What was the purpose behind building
the Eiffel Tower?
How long did it take to construct the
Eiffel Tower?
Which building first surpassed the tower
in terms of its height?
What did Gustave Eiffel do to ensure that
the Eiffel Tower would not be
dismantled?
How does the sun affect the tower?
Challenge
Match the iconic landmarks on the
next page with the country they
belong to…
© 2014 The Weekly Plan. All rights reserved.
OPENING OF THE EIFFEL TOWER
MARCH 31 1889
1. The Empire State Building
3. The Sydney Opera House
2. The Taj Mahal
4. Gaudi’s Cathedral
5. Big Ben
7. The Parthenon
8. The Louvre
6. The Leaning Tower of Pisa
9. The Great Wall of China
COUNTRIES:
a) England
d) Greece
g) Spain
b) USA
e) France
h) China
c) Australia
f) India
i) Italy
Answers over page…
© 2014 The Weekly Plan. All rights reserved.
OPENING OF THE EIFFEL TOWER
ANSWERS:
a) England = 5. Big Ben
b) USA = 1. The Empire State Building
c) Australia = The Sydney Opera House
d) Greece = 7. The Parthenon
e) France = The Louvre
f) India = 2. The Taj Mahal
g) Spain = Gaudi’s Cathedral
h) China = The Great Wall
i) Italy = The Leaning Tower of Pisa
MARCH 31 1889