History Daily - The Inauguration of the Eiffel Tower

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

March 31, 1889. After four years of planning and construction, the Eiffel Tower is completed in Paris and inaugurated on the anniversary of the French Revolution. This episode originally aired in 2022. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

It's July 14, 1789, and an angry mob is marching through the streets of Paris. Among the crowd is a young peasant laborer. Like the rest of the people here, this laborer has grown dissatisfied with the political system in France, a monarchical system in which the bourgeois enjoy a life of luxury while the working class can barely afford to feed their families. Starving and desperate, the laborer and his fellow workers flood the streets, armed with pitchforks and torches to take a stand against. against the monarchy. Up ahead, the laborer sees the stone walls of the Bastille,

the notorious prison where people who speak out against the monarchy are kept. This is where the mob is headed. The very sight of the Bastille's towering battlements fills the young laborer with anger. He raises his pitchfork and charges. Despite the threat of cannons mounted atop the battlements, the laborer joins a small party who fearlessly vault over the outer wall, scramble across a narrow moat and rush up to the game. The laborer and the rest of the party repeatedly strike at the wrought iron chains of the drawbridge

until eventually they break and the drawbridge comes crashing down across the moment. The Bastille is now defenseless against the mob. And as they rush in, they bring with them the spirit of revolution. The storming of the Bastille, as this event is known, represents the climactic high point of the French Revolution in which peasants and workers rose up against the ruling elites, and established France as a republic. The events that shook the nation in 1787

will become the founding myth of modern France, free from the shackles of monarchy, and galvanized by the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity. 100 years after the French Revolution, a monument will be displayed in Paris as a testament to everything France has achieved during its first century as a republic. And though this monument, the Eiffel Tower, is beloved today,

in its time it was a source of acrimony and bitter disagreement prior to its official inauguration, which took place on March 31, 1889. From Noisor and Ayrship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day. On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is March 31st, the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower. It's May 1884, five years before the Eiffel Tower opens. A 28-year-old engineer sits at home in Paris, France, sketching designs for a proposed city monument. In the warm glow of his gas lamp, Maurice Keklon is outlining plans

for what will eventually become the tallest man-made structure on Earth. But at this early stage, Maurice doubts whether it will even be possible. Alongside the design for the proposed monument, he sketches scale drawings of other famous landmarks, a statue of liberty, the Art de Triumph, the Cathedral of Notre Dame. But the monument Maurice's designing will dwarf these other structures, standing over 300 meters tall. Maurice wonders if a structure standing this high can withstand the wind it will face. He worries it will be too expensive or require too much raw material.

As Maurice thinks about these potential problems, he continues drawing. And by the time he's finished, he's come up with a plan for a 1,000-foot tower, describing it as four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together. at the top, joined together by metal trusses and regular intervals. Maurice carries out a few quick mental calculations and realizes, with mounting excitement, that this design solves some of the potential problems he was worrying about. The wrought iron will be lighter and cheaper than stone. The curved uprights and lattice structure will decrease wind resistance. Maurice titles his bold design, the Great Pylon. The following morning, Maurice and another engineer, Emil Nugier,

showed the design to their boss, a man in his early 50s named Gustav Eiffel. Maurice and Emile worked for Gustav's architectural firm, which specializes in railway bridges and metal viaducts. Gustav has a good reputation as one of France's leading civil engineers, but to his mind he's not yet secured his architectural legacy. Bridges and viaducts are one thing, but to have his name forever attached to a great monument, well, that's how legends are born.

So in 1884, when the first of the first of the first of the first thing, French government launched a contest to design a centerpiece for the upcoming World's Fair in Paris, Gustav saw an opportunity. He decided to submit a proposal, ordering his team of engineers to get to work on a design at once. The World's Fair is an international exhibition held to showcase a nation's industry, technology, and culture. Since the first exhibition held in Prague in 1791, world's fairs have displayed dazzling technological inventions across the globe in cities like New York, London, Barcelona, and Chicago. The 1889 World's Fair is of particular significance to the French hosts.

It's the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, when the people of France rose up against the ruling elites, toppled the monarchy and established France as a republic. A century later, the French government wants to showcase how far the nation has come since throwing off the shackles of monarchy, how it has flourished and grown into one of the world's leading industrial powerhouse. France's president at this time, Juul Gravilles, wants the 1889 World's Fair to be the grandest spectacle yet. For Grévié, a mere showcase of French inventions and feats of mechanical engineering isn't enough.

He wants a centerpiece that will be the envy of the world, a piste de resistance that will loom over the proceedings and remind the millions of visitors to the fair about France's artistic and industrial capabilities. Immediately after Gravy launched this competition, architectural companies around the country began developing their ideas for the monument. The only requirements were that the structure had to reflect France's engineering prowess and it had to be easily dismantled 20 years after the World's Fair. Maurice and Emile think they've hit these objectives and nervously slide their design across Gustave Eiffel's desk.

But Gustav looks at the Great Pylon with confusion. His lip curls up contemptuously as he asks, What on earth is this? Maurice tries to explain what Gustav isn't interested in discussion. He's seen all he needs to see of this strange, unorthodox structure. He dismisses the two engineers

who slope off despondently. But during the course of the day, Gustav keeps glancing down at the drawing. There's something about this unique design that compels and intrigues him. By the end of the afternoon, Gustav has changed his mind. He calls Maurice and a meal back into his office

and tells the two young engineers to carry out further study on the methods by which such a structure could feasibly be built. Several weeks later, the two men present their finished version to Gustav. The engineer is pleased with what he sees, and he quickly buys the rights to the patent. But there's one thing Gustav isn't sure of, the name. The Great Pylon doesn't have much of a ring to it, so instead Gustav renames the monument after himself, the Eiffel Tower. In the autumn of 1884, the designs for the Eiffel Tower are displayed at an international arts fair called the exhibition of decorative arts in Paris. There, the image catches the eye of the French President Jules Grévy

and the Minister of Trade, Edoord Lachroy, who were immediately taken by its sheer, unprecedented size. As Gustav never tires of reminding people, the Eiffel Tower will be the tallest man-made structure ever built. This is an accolade that French politicians cannot resist. So in the summer of 1885, Gustav's proposal wins the contest. A construction site is selected on the Champ de Mars, a green space in the very center of the city. Work begins two years later in January of 1887. Gustav is closer than ever before to securing his legacy. If all goes to plan, he will never have to design another railway bridge or viaduct ever again.

But as the foundations of the Eiffel Tower begin rising from the earth, vocal opposition to the monument will grow, until the tower that sought to celebrate French unity instead threatens to tear Paris apart. It's February 14, 1887 in Paris, two years before the opening of the Eiffel Tower. Gustav sits in his office reading the newspaper, but he's distracted. His thoughts were consumed by the work happening outside. On the Chant de Mars in the middle of the city, construction is well underway on the new monument. Metal girders swing from cranes, hundreds of workmen hammer rivets into place,

while roaring furnaces belged clouds of black smoke across the sky. Gustav has plenty of reason to be happy. Everything's going according to plan so far, and Gustav knows that's no small feat. The conditions of the world's fair competition stipulate that the Eiffel Tower is supposed to be deconstructed in 20 years' time. And as a result, the frame of the structure consists of 18,000 separate pieces of wrought iron pre-assembled in Gustav's factory.

In order to allow for straightforward disassembly, no component can be drilled or shaped on-site. Instead, everything must be bolted together with rivets. It's a demanding, meticulous process, and one that Gustav is confident will earn him countless accolades, as well as the respect of his fellow engineers. Still despite the success of initial construction, Gustav's spirits are low. Today, he sits in his office, reading a copy of the Parisian newspaper, La Tomp. The headline explains his sour mood, reading, artists against the Eiffel Tower. Shortly after construction began on the tower in January of 1887,

300, 300, 300 formed the so-called Committee of 300, one member for every meter of the Eiffel Tower. Among them were the notable architect Charles Garnier and the famous writer Guy de Montpoulson. Today, that committee has published a letter in Le Tont. As Gustav scans the article, the color slowly drains from his face.

The letter reads in part, we writers, painters, sculptors, architects, and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris protest with all our strength against the erection of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower. Alongside the letter is a mocking cartoon of Gustav himself, standing pridefully alongside the Eiffel Tower as it looms domineeringly over the Egyptian pyramids, a commentary on what the committee members feel is Gustav's arrogance and vanity. A pit of anger and hurt forms in Gustav's stomach. His pride is wounded, but rather than ignoring the criticism, he decides to respond. Gustav feeds a sheet of paper into his typewriter, begins hammering away at the keys,

muttering under his breath as he types. He starts, My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Then he hesitates, aware that perhaps he should strike a less boastful tone. In the letter, Gustav defends his taste, the beauty of his tower, and his architectural and aesthetic choices. Gustav submits his letter to La Tamp to be published later that week, but as work on the tower continues, the opposition only increases. Nobody has ever built anything of this size before.

The mere fact that Gustav is trying makes him in the eyes of detractors a lunatic. One headline in the tabloid press reads, Gustav Eiffel has gone mad. But still, construction continues, and the tower reaches further into the sky. Soon Parisians can see exactly how prominent the Eiffel Tower will appear on their skyline. And by December 1888, over two-thirds of the structure is built. The sheer size of the tower is a marvel to behold. And soon much of the earlier vitriol is being

replaced by awe. One witness describes the workman hammering rivets into place, stating, with each blow came a shower of sparks, as if they were reaping lightning bolts in the clouds. On March 31st, after two years, two months, and five days of painstaking work, the Eiffel Tower is at last, complete. The final stage was the addition of two elevator cars, capable of carrying 65 people at a time. For the grand unveiling, Gustav leads a group of dignitaries to the top, and as he shows them around, he points out the facts of the tower's construction, that it required 73,000 tons of iron, two and a half million rivets, 60 tons of paint. The audible gasps of admiration are music to Gustav's ears. Then, when they reached the top of the tower, Gustav's,

raises a French flag up the pole. Three hundred meters down below, soldiers fire a 21-gun salute, and the assembled crowd of onlookers voice their hearty support for Gustav's monument. Two months later in May, the Eiffel Tower becomes the centerpiece of the World's Fair. Millions of people from around the globe descend on Paris to marvel at French ingenuity. For Gustav, the highlight of the fair comes when he offers a private tour of the Eiffel Tower to the famous American inventor Thomas Edison. Edison praises Gustav as the brave builder of what he calls a gigantic and original specimen of modern engineering.

But despite its increasing popularity, the Eiffel Tower is only meant to remain standing for 20 years. As that milestone approaches, Gustav Eiffel is not ready to say goodbye to his precious creation. Instead, he will fight to ensure the tower remains and that his legacy is secure. It's November 5, 1898, nine years after the opening of the first of the opening of the city, of the Eiffel Tower. Gustav Eiffel sits in his private office on the top floor. He's nervous, because today might very well decide the fate of the structure that bears his name. Since its inauguration, most Parisians have grown accustomed to the site of the Eiffel Tower

on the skyline. Still for Gustav, the tower is his legacy, the accomplishment for which he will be remembered. And Gustav knows that in 11 years' time, his permit will expire. The tower will be turned over to the city council for disassembly. That is, unless he can convince the powers that be that the tower has more important practical purposes. Early on, Gustav began searching for a scientific justification for the tower's very existence. Eventually, he invited a scientist named Eugene DuCrette to demonstrate that the tower could be used to advance a burgeoning new technology, a wireless telegraph.

Gustav is nervous because today, DuCrette will conduct a groundbreaking experiment, attempting to carry out the first wireless telegraphy trials between the Eiffel Tower and the Pantheon of Paris, located two and a half miles away. But soon Gustav's nerves fade when he learns the experiment is a resounding success. The sheer height of the tower allows the signals to flow uninterrupted, and before long, Gustav installs a permanent transmitting station in the tower. In just a few years' time, the station is able to send transmissions as far as London. Eventually, Gustav offers the tower services to the French army, which conducts a series of their own consequential experiments. Then, on January 1, 1910, persuaded by the tower's practical applications, the city council renews Gustav's permit,

essentially guaranteeing the Eiffel Tower a permanent place on the Paris skyline. Gustav's persistence and the city's council's decision will pay dividends, because during World War I, the radio station atop the Eiffel Tower will become a vital, transmitter of crucial military communications. And for decades after the war, the Eiffel Tower will remain the world's tallest building until 1930, when it will be overtaken by the Chrysler building in New York. Today, the tower, once known as the Great Pylon, attracts seven million visitors annually, making it the most visited monument in the world. Tourists flock from all corners of the globe to marvel at a structure that was once considered controversial. Today, though, it stands as a symbol

of not only French progress, but the brilliance of French engineering, artistry, and originality, the very outcome Gustav Eiffel hoped for when he unveiled his tower on March 31, 1889. Next, on History Daily, April 1, 1978, the composer John Cage gives an impromptu performance of his most famous work. From Noisor and Ayrship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham. Audio editing by Molly Bond. Music and sound design by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written and research by Joe Viner. Executive producers are Stephen Walters for airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.