April 18, 2026
Stairway to snark
Dizzying Spiral Staircase with Single Guardrail Once Led to Top of Eiffel Tower
Eiffel’s daredevil stairs go to auction; commenters nitpick the guardrail and roast the ads
TLDR: A piece of the Eiffel Tower’s original spiral staircase is going to auction for around $141k–$176k, stirring awe and eye-rolls. Commenters battled over pedantic “single guardrail” wording, roasted the ad-choked source site, and joked that elevator lines—not stairs—were better for romance, proving history still sparks modern drama.
A nine-foot chunk of the Eiffel Tower’s original spiral staircase—14 steps from the 1,062-step climb Eiffel took to his sky office—is hitting the auction block for a predicted $141,000 to $176,000. Cue the commentariat: the phrase “single guardrail” immediately triggered the resident pedants, with one dryly noting that’s how spiral staircases work, not a double-helix science project. Meanwhile, others barely made it past the headline before launching into an ad-tech meltdown, saying the source site was such a pop-up minefield that “everything except the text… can go” very, very wrong. Culture check: one cinephile dropped a nod to the classic caper The Lavender Hill Mob, because of course this staircase has film credits.
Beyond the snark, commenters marveled at Sabrina Dolla’s dare-you-to-imagine pitch—standing hundreds of feet up with a 360° view, back when safety rails were a suggestion. Romantic subplot: one traveler bragged the tower’s elevator queues were long enough to meet, flirt with, and date a French girl—something stairs would’ve ruined. The backstory delivered the rest: Eiffel’s private perch, Thomas Edison dropping by, the staircase dismantled in 1983 and scattered to museums (and even the Statue of Liberty). Verdict: a slice of history for sale, but the crowd’s torn between awe, nitpicking, and rage-clicking through ads.
Key Points
- •Artcurial will auction an original Eiffel Tower spiral staircase fragment on May 21 with an estimated price of $141,000 to $176,000.
- •The staircase once connected the second and third floors (1,062 steps, single guardrail) and led to Gustave Eiffel’s private office above the top floor.
- •The Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, was initially controversial but became a symbol of Paris; it was the world’s tallest structure until 1929.
- •The spiral staircase was dismantled in 1983 during elevator upgrades and divided into 24 sections, with pieces displayed in France and abroad, including at the Statue of Liberty.
- •The auctioned segment is about nine feet tall with 14 steps, made of steel and riveted sheet metal, recently restored by Eiffel Tower maintenance workers.