The story of this place
Erected for the 1889 Exposition Universelle marking the Revolution's centenary, Gustave Eiffel's 300-metre iron tower was the tallest structure on Earth and a lightning rod for outrage: 300 artists and writers, including Maupassant, signed a protest denouncing this 'useless and monstrous' tower. It was meant to be dismantled after 20 years, but its usefulness as a radio antenna saved it. In 1940 the occupying Germans found the lift cables mysteriously cut, forcing Hitler to admire the view only from the ground. In 1944, as the Allies neared, Hitler ordered Paris—and the tower—destroyed; General von Choltitz disobeyed. Some seven million people now ascend it yearly.