Eiffel Tower-History of Eiffel Tower

 History of Eiffel Tower

There is something about great height that suggests a spirit of triumph to the soul it forces people's vision to heaven while it offers a calming perspective to the chaos of the world below throughout the ages people have challenged

 Architectural and engineering limits to achieve great structural height

 Sometimes to spy on enemies approaching from a distance and at other times in an attempt to get closer to god there are those who insist on finding practical applications for towers they make good broadcast antennas or they're a fine place for a revolving restaurant but the real appeal of towers comes from a pure notion towers are a celebration of will they speak to our ambitions they are the joyous declaration that we exist the world's best loved tower is the eiffel tower in paris its soaring height its delicate lines its airy volume all

 Reflect the best part of the french

 Spirit designed and built in 1889 it was the centerpiece in a celebration of the bloody french revolution 100 years

 Earlier

 On july 14 1789 in a flood of

 Revolutionary passion parisian artisans led an attack against french aristocracy and stormed the bastille the infamous prison where the poor and politically incorrect were locked away the

 Insurrection spread across france and patriots rallied to the battle cry of freedom the marseillaise let us go

 Children of the fatherland our day of glory has arrived against our stands tyranny the bloody flag is raised come together in the countryside to lower these savage soldiers they come right into our arms to cut the throats of your sons your country to arms citizens form your battalions let us march that their impure blood should water our fields this nationalistic eruption reverberate across europe and set the stage for

 Modern democratic movements and the

 French people were justifiably proud of the positive contributions their

 Revolution had made but a century later the french ego was bruised after a

 Devastating military defeat to germany the idea of mounting a spectacular

 International exposition seemed like a grand way to remember past glory and forget about contemporary setbacks said because there was in 1870 a terrible war with germany and we had lost two

 Provinces alsace and lorraine and for that the french people were very pleased to have this exhibit to show they were very great and the country was quite richer it was decided there needed to be a centerpiece for the celebration an artistic statement which would loom over the crowds

 The bravado of the industrial age

 Suggested an engineering accomplishment at our the tao was important as

 Something very clever in technology see nobody in the world was able to build a tower of a thousand feet you see lots of people tried in america there were lots of plans of thousand but they'd never build them a competition was held for design architects from all over france submitted elaborate plans the first one was done by a man called maurice cooker he was one of the first engineers

 Induced as a failure as tougher gustav eiffel was france's premier architect engineer his reputation sprang from his visionary work on bridges he explored the revolutionary concept of metal frame construction his genius attracted the finest architects in france to his

 Studio and he fells association with a project virtually guaranteed its funding and completion to young engineers on fl staff maurice coquelin and damian ogia actually created the concept of the 300 meter tower for the 1890 exhibition in paris they sketched the first true

 Designs for a framed structure then

 Called on architect stephen civ astra to add ornamental flourishes the arching floral elements and sculptural nuances their romantic inspiration was in 1887 french architectural notion that one could touch the sky from a structure if it reached the impossible height of

 1,000 feet if l saw their plans and

 Shared their dream their work was soon adopted by a monsieur estella at first he agreed to add his name to the contest submission to improve its chances of winning but he quickly became interested in the tower concept and began to add his own unique flourishes once he fells name was on the project everyone knew the outcome of the competition with his social and political connections if l was well equipped to push the project through the parisian bureaucracy and he had the technical ability to transform the project from a paper design to a three-dimensional reality the tower was designed to represent frances

 Participation in the industrial age as a symbol and as an engineering challenge there was a lot riding on the success of the tower but if l was determined to exhibit the same innovative spirit in construction that he had employed in the design

 It is air and light form and motion as sturdy as man's resolve and as ethereal as his thoughts the eiffel tower is as much an idea of structure as it is an extraordinary physical monument and the process of its construction reflects both the concept of prefabrication from the industrial age and the advanced

 Building theories of the dawning 20th century february 28 1887 gustav eiffel gathered a crowd of dignitaries to

 Witness the commencement of construction he was 53 and this tower was to be his crowning achievement as the ceremony's proceeded fifty engineers were still drafting over 5,300 detailed blueprints for the 132 workmen at the site it would take four months to lay the foundation for the legs two pillars were set on six and a half foot thick concrete slabs set 23 feet below ground the remaining two legs were positioned so close to the sand river that watertight metal dams had to be lowered into the damp earth so the concrete could set beneath the

 Seeping water line

 The square encompassed by the four legs was 426 feet on each side broad enough to distribute evenly the structures

 7,000 tons of iron under these

 Foundations arose masonry bases embedded with two anchoring bolts for each of the four feet from here the legs would rise at a sharp 60 degree angle as hollow framework beams the beams were made of angle brackets and flat bars riveted together with stiffeners attached to the sides four of these assemblies combine to form the entire beam the beam had the same structural dynamic as a series of interlocking cubes and this is the

 Genius of f ells design the framework support is as sturdy as solid stone at only a fraction of the weight it was also easily erected with standardized inexpensive prefabricated materials

 Eventually 18,000 metal parts and

 2,500,000 rivets would comprise the

 Tower yet all of the pieces are either flat bars angle brackets or plates

 The first stage of the construction was also the most critical all four legs needed to rise simultaneously and meet on an exact horizontal plane at the

 Towers first floor the radical angle demanded scaffolding support for each of the legs and a center scaffold to

 Support the center ring girder which held the structure together 800 ton

 Thrust jacks operated by manual

 Hydraulic pumps installed under each leg helped to raise and lower the four sides independently in order to reach the

 Required precision when this was

 Achieved gustav eiffel knew there was nothing that could stop the completion of his dream although there were those who would try live near the tower who said that it will fall on the houses and nobody would cover the risk he covered it by himself likewise many people

 Feared that the tower would destroy the paris skyline when it was started to be constructed some people tried to stop it you see and some painters were hiders architects who hold a letter saying it's a scandal the paris arts community saw the tower as a rude industrial

 Imposition on the city's beauty dozens of french writers and painters attacked the tower in a public declaration

 I feel paris is threatened claimed one artist by this positively tragic

 Lampstand issuing from her stomach if l responded with equal passion the tower will be the highest building ever raised by man he exclaimed will it not have a majesty of its own

 By april 1st 1888 the 300 meter tower of paris was an eruption of iron lifting skyward and carrying with it the spirit of france and finally the general public it seemed was falling in love the people in paris general public really felt a very strong feeling of admiration what had begun as the skeletal suggestion of form was now exhibiting grand flowing design the graceful rise of the legs the arcing decorative additions contrasting with the stern regimen of exposed bolts here was a work of art that spoke to an aggressive world preparing for dramatic change the work progressed with

 Lightning speed if l was mounting the operation as if he were conducting a war with crisp military precision the

 Structure was in fact prefabricated in the iphone factory while the tower was assembled at the most you had something like 300 people working on the side bits of the structure littered the site like scattered pieces of a child's erector set riveting teams worked in groups of four to keep up with the frantic pace as soon as one load of iron was attached for 12 ton cranes would deliver more crawling up the guide shafts where

 Future elevators would soar the second floor was finished a little over a year after the start of construction and less than a year after that on march 31st 1889 the entire tower was complete it had taken only two years two months and five days to build what would be the world's tallest structure for the next 40 years remarkably there was not a

 Single death as the result of the

 Challenging and dangerous work

 If l himself was the first to climb the 1710 steps to the summit and unfurl the french tricolour flag beneath him the city of paris it seemed as if its soul was being funneled up the mighty legs of the tower and sprayed across the sky in a celestial celebration when the 1889 universal exposition of paris was

 Officially opened the glittering

 Centerpiece was the 300 meter tower

 Officials called it the greatest crowd flabbergasting machine ever built but soon it was simply to be known as the eiffel tower

 Let's accept the tower was called at first the tower of 320 meters even in the beginning the pylon of 320 meters then the 320 meter towers i don't know exactly when it became the tower of mr.

 I fall and later the eiffel tower i

 Think it escaped him that it would go any further than a very high functional tower of great dimension the eiffel

 Tower is rooted in both the majestic and the mundane it may have been the tallest structure on the planet but it was

 Equally cherished by a monsieur sl

 Because of the tremendous personal

 Income it generated you know mr. I fell practically funded the construction of the tower in fact he paid for most of it and he made a deal he said if you give me the right to work on it for 20 years i'll agree to finance at 80 percent if he had not believed in the success of his tower he would not have jumped into this venture in which he succeeded so magnificently monsieur if l had a

 Private apartment on the tower from

 Which he conducted scientific

 Experiments and met with important

 Dignitaries all the while he could watch the elevators lifting nearly two million tourists to the top in the first year representing over $1,000,000 income to fl as he personally garnered the

 Receipts from ticket sales fl could earn money with the people going up and he made a lot of money was very rich after if it was were not at all an artist it was an entrepreneur

 Contrasting opinions of monsieur sl

 Spring from the multi-faceted and

 Conflicting nature of his character he may not have been an artist but his

 Approach to metal frame construction established a structural aesthetic which is still admired today he may have been a national hero after building the tower in 1889 but the next year he was

 Convicted of profiteering in the failed french effort to construct a panama

 Canal the canal was the dream of french engineer ferdinand de lesseps who had triumphed with his suez canal and was determined to duplicate that feat in panama till acept invited fl to suggest an engineering approach to accomplish the jungle waterway and if l proposed an innovative system of locks that idea was rejected by de lesseps and the result was disastrous canals cannot be carved through swamps and jungle the attempt proved so expensive and unproductive the french government was nearly thrown into bankruptcy the political fallout was severe anyone even remotely associated with the failed attempt was vilified and if l was sentenced to 24 months in

 Prison that judgment was later

 Overturned but by then if l had lost his appetite for the construction business or engineers like like a god you see and he was very he was he was also a man of science he loved science and when after the tao instead be fl now 73 dedicated himself to pure scientific study

 Specifically the exploration of

 Aerodynamics other french visionaries like authors yul verne had applied crude 19th century notions to the concept of flight as illustrated in this early film proposing a trip to the moon

 If l realized that advancements in

 Aviation would need to be based on the scientific study of the natural elements but while some well-meaning researchers were mired in the idea of outlandish mechanical contraptions and others were attaching feathered wings to their arms and tossing themselves off the tower like birds if l returned to his

 Analytical roots and build a workshop that still operates today the shoei fail mr. Fl well he made the first wind

 Resistance tests because all of his life he had problems with the wind that was his enemy number one and in 1906 to 1909 he began to question aerodynamic

 Resistance and that's why he made this first wind tunnel one can say that in this wind tunnel where you're standing right now french aviation airy studies began i must specify that the tunnel the ventilator the motor and all these are originals we don't touch them we leave them in their original state as for

 Measuring devices of course we adapted them for modern functions mr. Ifl was an extraordinary engineer we've examined all he did during his lifetime and all that he envisioned and today we are

 Doing things that mr. Ifl already did in 1917

 He fells biggest vision the 300 meter tower was only supposed to stand for 20 years but he had grown accustomed to using the structure as his personal

 Reception area a way to maintain his high profile over parisian society so he launched an aggressive campaign to save his tower from the wrecking ball he

 Conducted over 5,000 experiments in his lofty laboratory but it was radio that saved the day and the tower the giant metal structure was the perfect antenna from the top signals could be

 Transmitted as far away as north america so although destined for demolition in 1909 a fell's tower won a reprieve as radio helped france monitor the dark clouds of war looming over germany in 1914 world war swept over the european continent for paris the conflict came so close that soldiers often took taxis to travel to the front lines but with the help of the eiffel tower generals could listen in on the movements of the enemy and declare zeppelin alerts from their elevated perch

 In 1923 five years after the last echoes of the war gustavus fell died throughout his ninety-one years his vision

 Propelled france to the forefront of emerging technologies his interpretation of design and structure as represented by his tower was the world's

 Introduction to basic twentieth-century principles the future of construction would forevermore be linked to the

 Unified participation of modest

 Interlocking elements

 It was a concept whose time had come after the devastation of world war paris was anxious to lift its battered spirits and embrace a brighter day yet some

 Sensed a subtle desperate undercurrent to the celebratory esprit it was as if the frantic good times were masking the many issues the war had left unsettled paris in the 20s attracted a lost

 Generation disillusioned with

 Traditional values and philosophies some of these post-war parisians were

 Actually american artists and

 Intellectuals searching for meaning in a seemingly chaotic world f scott

 Fitzgerald and his wife zelda charlie chaplin movie stars painters and a mixed assortment of creative individuals

 Became attracted to a french revolution in thinking called existentialism is what we are the sum of our existence our time and poetry nothing more than

 Absurdist fantasy darker themes of

 Alienation started to emerge in the arts and ironically the tower provided a

 Visual and symbolic link to a lighter and more stable time after all

 Gustav a bell had created weightless beauty from dense heavy metal a very reassuring concept the eiffel tower is not only the iron composing it but also what's inside air captured in a

 Latticework of metal some visitors feel that they are in the middle of nowhere the sensation suggests that it's not only the structure but also its void which is the essential material of the eiffel tower the towers bold composition seemed a poetic link between the 19th and 20th centuries a link which would be brutally severed when fascism racism and systematic murder erupted from the ashes of germany's defeat in the first world war

 May 1940 in the terrifying panic of a nazi blitzkrieg paris and the eiffel tower were taken hostage but german

 Troops found it difficult fully to

 Utilize the monument frenchman had

 Damaged the elevators this sabotage kept even hitler from savoring his conquest there's a very famous photo he's on the talk idea who he looks at the tower but he hasn't written it they want to leave it so couldn't go seeing the tower

 Occupied by nazis enraged french

 Citizens parisians joined together in futile counter-attacks

 The free french secretly conspired in the ancient roman catacombs which weave beneath the streets of paris tunnels hiding the bones of forgotten and

 Vanquished frenchmen throughout the

 Centuries were now home to the

 Resistance there are subterranean

 Passages that go underneath the french capital the catacombs played an

 Important role in the resistance it was a means for us to travel across paris without being seen in order to be able to lead the parisian insurrection on the offense

 We derail trains because those trains that went to the front lines of the

 Atlantic all went behind paris i

 Participated in the sabotage of railroad tracks tracks that were obviously meant for trains that transported soldiers but one day we found out about a large train that circled paris we made arrangements we derailed the train and it was just awful because the train was packed with sauerkraut

 There were particles of sauerkraut for miles around do dto met hitler despised the free french and planned to destroy their most treasured monument out of spite

 At the war's end hitler gave orders to have the tower bombed but general von choltitz who had fallen in love with the city of paris gave the eiffel tower and unauthorized reprieve people of western europe landing was made this morning on the coast of france by troops of the allied expeditionary force the hour of your liberation is approaching

 American tanks finally drove the nazis from the eiffel tower

 But when liberation finally came to

 Paris the french government was in a shambles the old leaders were gone the next generation was ill-equipped to

 Raise the country to its former glory from 1945 through 1965 isn't sin to

 Power it was political chaos until

 General charles de gaulle was finally persuaded to lead the country out of post-war calamity only a man of his

 Strength and broad appeal could have saved the republic de gaulle rallied that his heartened country and gave

 France back its spirit its soul however had always been protected in that giant cage of the eiffel tower but just as france needed a new vision for the

 Second half of the 20th century the

 Eiffel tower needed a new commitment to its care and maintenance if it were to stand at all

 It was designed as the centerpiece of an international exposition in 1889 today more than a century later the

 Celebration continues as well over a thousand people visit the eiffel tower every hour

 There are four elevators to carry them to the top one in each of the tower legs rising at a steep 60-degree angle the heart of the hoisting is actually hidden beneath the legs in a century-old

 Catacomb here complex contraptions rival jules verne's most elaborate fantasies the pressure pushing a piston there was fishing a dolly the dolly was pulling the cable to heave the car up the 100 year old technology forms an animated mosaic giving the impression that the lifting is done by a giant mechanical toy square cotton wreath about that big depression and they agrees with button fans see you

 Twice a week here it smells like having an issue you know this north african roasted lamb

 That's it

 All technology works beautifully thus this nether

 That's leather same material but it's compresses shapes or various shapes it's true leather and it's incriminated with oil she's made from the hooves of oxen in 1980 officials decided to upgrade the system by blending the old technology with the latest high-tech equipment it's like mixing the engine of a ferrari and the engine of a of an extra at the third level a second bank of elevators carries passengers vertically to the summit atop the structure maintenance is non-stop everyday a small but determined team of 25 workers walk the narrow iron supports for the 18-month job of painting the tower the process is the same today as when the tower was originally painted over 50 tons of paint is required to complete the task a task that is

 Repeated every 7 years i was 18 years old when i began this job in the air as an industrial painter to work on the eiffel tower such an important monument i feel privileged and happy but being a painter is somewhat specialized you have to be physically strong and have a good morale it's dangerous

 One requires strength and balance of course

 But i think you see who's the higher im the better i feel

 But painters aren't alone on the

 Elevated web of iron electricians also comb the tower personally i'd much

 Rather work up here than in an office i think my friend agrees oh absolutely i mean we get to be outdoors we like what we do to be able to work on a monument like the eiffel tower is privileged i'd say the exposed nature of the structure occasionally allows the elements to

 Inflict damage water pipes can freeze and burst if not protected by the

 Electrical system there are heating

 Bands with thermostats as soon as the temperature falls below 40 degrees the heating bands kick in the piping is

 Heated

 But the main job of the electrician's is to maintain the illuminated beauty 360 lightbulbs are constantly inspected and changed but climbing to the sockets

 Often upsets the real residents of the tower the birds they're attracted by the light once they come close they get a bit lost when they try to sit out again they get caught in the steelwork but a lot of them manage to fly off unharmed we've actually even seen birds come and make their nests in the steel beams it's kind of nice because in paris we're not used to seeing pigeons anymore it's a pleasant change early evening the sun casts its last golden pink ray's over the city of paris the homes the museums the monuments and cathedrals and the couples who gather on the tower the

 Tower responds as if its own glorious wash of color is the reflected glow of lovers the lighting design is calculated to enhance the romantic ambiance on the eiffel tower contains a yellow pigment lighting it with yellow light brings out the yellow pigment that's been the major source of success in this operation the approach is entirely different because night lighting must interpret the

 Feeling even the expression of the

 Monument the i felt our lighting seeks to validate the architecture of this star attraction in paris it's the star of paris at night

 People who work at the tao a very powder some even the to powder it's like if there is a sense of ownership which is shared among those who work the tower especially the employees whose task is to greet visitors my job in fact is to organize the tour guides i am

 Responsible for the group we're now in the north pillar each of the four

 Corners of the eiffel tower is

 Represented by pillars in which you will find the elevators down there is the beautiful france restaurant and above it the parisian restaurant the two

 Restaurants of the first level and over there is the cinemax gallery where

 You'll find a post office souvenir shops buffets ice cream vendors there are lots of interesting things in the gallery the tower was originally designed as a

 Tourist mecca and it still serves that light-hearted function today but its magnificent vistas and staggering height sometimes attract a darker element

 People periodically try to jump off the eiffel tower already 380 people have committed suicide that's an average of about 3 or 4 a year so we regularly try to control the situation

 We try to reason with them we would try to find out their motive we discuss it with them we try to talk with them as much as possible until security comes and from then on it's the fireman's

 Responsibility more often a tour guide has the opportunity to see people in a more festive and romantic mood i have seen a lot of couples walking arm-in-arm they often come to celebrate an event or an anniversary our job also includes discouraging these people from writing on the eiffel tower most of the time we chase them and we try to catch them and sometimes it's a little game between the tourists and ourselves we are on the third floor of the eiffel tower in front of the jules verne restaurant this

 Restaurant is one of the symbols of

 Paris precisely because it's located way up on the third floor there's only one eiffel tower only one third floor it's certainly the best location in the world unless there's a restaurant on top of mount everest

 The ceremony and celebration of haute cuisine is a tradition on the tower

 Extending back to its earliest days food is more than nourishment for the french it is a passion that was ever players it happened about six months after i

 Arrived in paris i informed my wife that i had a mistress she just stared at me and i said she's an old mistress she looked even more surprised after about five minutes i told her my mistress is the eiffel tower

 Some artists paint some work in stone masterchef allah rex

 Prefers pot a practising his culinary magic at the jewel vern the exclusive four-star restaurant midway up the lofty height of the tower asia the view of paris really inspires me and inspires me to create new dishes every day

 Abc news ladies evening we have a

 Hundred and fifteen people employed in the jules verne restaurant alone there's a lot of hustle and bustle a lot of

 People i love that armed with spatulas whisks paring knives and souffle dishes chef rex and his men fight for the honor of france today's special a lobster

 Salad in coral sauce

 It's french lobster the tower was

 Designed to inspire the common person to new visions it also encourages the

 Imaginations of artists to soar at the jules verne restaurant these two

 Dynamics take flight it is an appetizing blend that could only happen in the city of light

 Paris is often called the city of light but to what quality of light does the title refer does it suggest the

 Lightness of the french spirit the

 Enlightenment of the french culture or perhaps the brilliant light of the

 French sky bleaching marble facades by day and by night cradling lovers in its rose-colored evening mist

 Maybe it's the magic light of a cabaret where toulouse lautrec painted and

 Played

 With the glittering sparkle of a

 Merry-go-round reflected in the eyes of the young at heart the light of paris is all these images and experiences yet it finds its most vibrant voice in the

 Silent exultation of monsieur a fells tower i believe that the eiffel tower has taken an entirely unique place in the world it's almost become a myth it's sort of glorified science it was built during an era when it was thought that science and technology would make

 Mankind happy i believe also because of its shape it is very very special and can be easily drawn i think also that it is a useless object and that a useless object has a great therapeutic value so the eiffel tower stands as a monument to those things we cannot grasp our joy's our hopes it still stands as a

 Technological marvel

 But in its simple elegant uplifting form we find a way to celebrate life and love