Pioneer and father of the Eiffel Tower: Gustave Eiffel died 100 years ago
Published: Thursday, Dec 21st 2023, 06:20
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He was a witty entrepreneur, a celebrated engineer and he created the French landmark par excellence: the Eiffel Tower. Wednesday marks the centenary of Gustave Eiffel's death and the French now hold the father of the world-famous landmark in much higher esteem than many of his contemporaries. After all, the entrepreneur and his modern constructions were not popular with everyone in late 19th century France, which revered the fine arts.
Eiffel was born on 15 December 1832 in Dijon in eastern France - in the age of industrialization. His ancestors had moved from the Rhineland to France at the beginning of the 18th century and were known there as "Eiffel" despite their name "Bönickhausen". While Eiffel initially wanted to take over his uncle's chemical factory, he soon turned his attention to the metal industry and began working for a civil engineer in 1856. In his mid-20s, he was already responsible for the construction of the more than 500-metre-long railroad bridge in Bordeaux.
After his first successes, Eiffel moved from the Atlantic city to the gates of Paris, where he founded his own company at the age of 32. He quickly made a name for himself, also thanks to his innovative construction methods. He used cantilever beams and had individual parts manufactured in the factory, which were then assembled on site. Iron was gaining ground as a stable, inexpensive and easy-to-manufacture building material. Glorious years followed for Eiffel. He became a globally sought-after designer, building the Budapest West Railway Station, the Maria Pia Bridge in Portugal, the Viaduc de Garabit in France, and he also gave the Statue of Liberty its iron frame.
The opportunity for his most famous building presented itself to the father of five with the World Exhibition, which was to come to Paris in 1889. Against the backdrop of technical innovations, clever minds had already been trying for years to crack the 1000-foot or 300-meter mark on a building. Eiffel's employees also submitted a proposal for such a tower - made of iron, of course. In a duel between tradition and art on the one hand and modernity and technology on the other, the project quickly competed with a planned stone sun column by star architect Jules Bourdais.
Renowned advocates of the arts saw Eiffel's design as a provocation. Although iron was tolerated as a building material, they were horrified that it should be openly visible and not disappear behind a decorative façade. After a long tug-of-war, Eiffel was awarded the contract for the tower. It was later threatened with demolition several times until the spread of radio technology finally saved it.
Not only was Eiffel the first person to build a tower of 300 meters, he also had the technical masterpiece erected in a record time of two years, two months and five days. The fact that the Eiffel Tower was only surpassed more than 30 years after its opening in 1889 with the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York in the early 1930s shows that his skills were exceptional. An attempt to rebuild the Eiffel Tower in London in the 1890s also failed. The visionary Eiffel also designed a tubular submarine bridge under the English Channel, metro stations for Paris and a fighter plane.
But there were also setbacks for Eiffel. In 1891, a bridge he had built collapsed in Münchenstein, Switzerland, killing 73 people.
In French memory, the once fierce criticism of the Eiffel Tower seems long forgotten. The entire year is already dedicated to Eiffel - with a commemorative stamp, conferences and a special exhibition. On the anniversary of the famous designer's death, an electric concert at the tower will celebrate the pioneer, who created more than 500 works in 30 countries and, with the Eiffel Tower, not only created one of the most visited attractions in France, but also a French trademark.
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