The Eiffel Tower didn’t always look the way it does now. Although it was Venetian red at the start of construction, the architects changed the color of the Tower to reddish brown for its opening in 1889. In 1892, this changed again to ocher. In 1899, five graded tones of yellowish orange were used, and then the landmark was painted yellowish brown in 1907. Orangish yellow and chestnut brown followed. “Since 1968, it has always been the same color,” says Jean-Bernard Bros, President of SETE (Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel), the company that operates the tower, namely Eiffel Tower brown, with pigments from LANXESS. “Artists, photographers and all those who love the Eiffel Tower agree that it is the tower’s best color,” he adds.
Annie Raisslé can’t imagine “her” tower in any other color, either. “The discreet shade matches very well with the roofs and monuments of Paris,” she says. It is and remains a little bit of home.