The Eiffel Tower: A Brief History

Today I’m going to tell you the story of the Eiffel Tower. I will narrate to you its story from the time it was built to today. I hope you like it.

The Eiffel Tower is a tower located in Paris, France. It is the symbol of Frances’ monuments. The Eiffel Tower’s construction was started in 1887 and ended in 1889. It was named after Gustave Eiffel whose company built it. The Eiffel Tower was built as part of the Exposition Universelle or World’s Fair to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the French Revolution. At first Parisian artists criticised it and said it was an ugly monument. However, after its building was finished most of those artists publicly apologised. The Eiffel Tower was opened to the public on 31^st March 1889. Soon, many people from across France came to visit the Eiffel Tower. Gustave Eiffel had been allowed to keep the tower standing for 20 years but it was left standing even after the World’s Fair because of the antenna that had been built on top and was being used to conduct wireless signals.

Gustave Eiffel

The Eiffel Tower remained the tallest building in the world till 1930 when the Chrysler Building in New York surpassed it in height. The Eiffel Tower was very useful in WWI because the radio transmitter located on top of the Eiffel Tower jammed German radio communications. When the Germans occupied Paris, the Eiffel Tower was closed to the public. Did you know that the Eiffel Tower was almost destroyed in 1944 when Hitler ordered the Nazi military governor of Paris to destroy the city and its monuments?! The order to destroy the city of Paris and its monuments was deliberately not carried out by the governor! This is the reason the Eiffel Tower and the city of Paris still stands tall.

American soldiers watching the Eiffel Tower after the

Liberation of Paris

After WWII, the Eiffel Tower’s lifts, and other systems were repaired and replaced with new and modern ones. Today the Eiffel Tower is visited by thousands of tourists form all over the world. I hope to visit this historic structure someday.