What was the initial reaction of the citizens of Paris to the Eiffel Tower?

lanfranco

Negative. In fact, if the site below can be trusted, Guy de Maupassant, when asked why he ate lunch at the Tower every day, said that it was the one place in Paris where you couldn't see it. However, Frank Lloyd Wright once supposedly said that if he had to live on the campus of Yale University, he'd reside in Harkness Tower, so he wouldn't have to look at it. That sounds suspiciously similar to the Guy de Maupassant tale, so I'm not sure we should put any faith in stories like this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower Jul 19 07, 4:23 PM

lanfranco

Indeed, it turns out the Guy de Maupassant story is also attributed to Alexandre Dumas fils, and the Harkness Tower tale to many architects: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harkness_Tower Jul 19 07, 4:47 PM

zbeckabee

It wasn't hated by all, as 700 proposals were submitted in a design competition and Gustave Eiffel's was unanimously chosen. However, a great many Parisians did spend considerable effort in attempting to get the tower removed -- and were almost successful in 1909. The tower proved invaluable during WWI and as a result was left standing. http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Landmarks/eiffel-history.htm Jul 19 07, 5:21 PM