The Eiffel Tower is situated on the bank of the Seine, built on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It was built for the Exposition Universelle, a Parisian World Fair in 1889

With the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1940, the elevator cables were cut by the French so that Hitler would have to climb the steps to the top. The parts to repair them were supposedly impossible to obtain because of the war, though they were working again within hours after the Nazis left. In 1940 Nazi soldiers had to climb all the way to the top to hoist the swastika from the peak, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later and they had to go back up again with a smaller one. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang the French flag. In August 1944, when the Allies were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order because he did not want to go down in history as the man who destroyed Paris.

Today, the tower is an international icon of Paris, much like the White House is for America. It draws enormous amounts of tourism; it received its 200,000,000th guest of all-time in 2002. There is a common Hollywood cliché that the tower is visible from nearly every house in the city of Paris: this isn't true, since zoning laws limit the heights of some buildings, but it does go to show just how strong a connection people make between the tower and the city if Paris. Since 2004, the Eiffel Tower has hosted a free ice skating rink on the first floor during the winter season and every night there is a light show using the flashing lamps and high powered searchlights that are situated near the top of the tower. It is remarkable that a building could have such a close relationship with people from all around the world, the Eiffel Tower being one of the most iconic tourist buildings in the world.