They said it looked like a hideous factory chimney, it was going to be 1,000 feet tall, way taller than anything else in Paris, and it would be there for 20 years. People also feared it might collapse because railroad bridges had collapsed.
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But though Eiffel's tower planned to set records, it wasn't without controversy. The building was radically industrial, and that chafed against the sensibilities of more refined Parisians.
They said it looked like a hideous factory chimney, it was going to be 1,000 feet tall, way taller than anything else in Paris, and it would be there for 20 years. People also feared it might collapse because railroad bridges had collapsed.
In fact, some were outright hostile towards it. But perhaps the Eiffel Tower's greatest rejection came from the people who held the most authority on what worked aesthetically for the city and what didn't: Parisian artists and writers.
The Eiffel Tower was once yellowA decade later, it was coated in yellow paint. The tower was also yellow-brown and chestnut brown before the adoption of the current, specially mixed “Eiffel Tower Brown” in 1968. Every seven years, painters apply 60 tons of paint to the tower to keep her looking young.
They said it looked like a hideous factory chimney, it was going to be 1,000 feet tall, way taller than anything else in Paris, and it would be there for 20 years. People also feared it might collapse because railroad bridges had collapsed.
Of the many surprising facts about the Tower, perhaps the most shocking of all is that it was never meant to be a permanent structure on the Parisian landscape. Instead, it was intended to be a temporary installation that commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the French Revolution at the 1889 World Fair.
However, the lights on the Eiffel Tower were installed in 1985, by Pierre Bideau, meaning that any photo or video that shows the monument at a time when the lights are visible (ie, at night) is a violation of copyright law.
When Gustave Eiffel designed his namesake tower, he included a private apartment for himself at the top, which is now available for the public to tour.
In its 129 year history, the Eiffel Tower has had 19 different paint jobs. And when the monument undergoes its 20th painting later this year, the Ministry of Culture and the City of Paris will decide if its current subdued metal color will remain — or if something else will take its place.
The Eiffel Tower was almost destroyed during World War II.In August 1944, as the Nazis were losing control of occupied Paris, Adolf Hitler commanded his generals to level the city. Plans were drawn up to mine the Eiffel Tower with explosives. Thankfully, Allied troops swooped in before the order could be carried out.