An original segment of the Eiffel Tower will soon be put up for sale at an auction in France.
On 21 May, part of the Parisian landmark’s staircase will be sold to the highest bidder.
The Eiffel Tower was designed by French civil engineer Gustave Eiffel, with construction officially completed in March 1889.
In 1983, spiral staircases connecting the second and third floors were dismantled into 24 individual parts, replaced with elevators and sold at auction.
One 14ft chunk sits on the Eiffel Tower’s first floor, with others featured in the Musée d’Orsay, La Villette and the Iron Museum in Paris.
The remaining 20 sections were auctioned off and are scattered globally, from Disneyland to Japanese gardens in Yamanashi.
Artcurial, a French auction house, is hosting the auction to rehome an anonymous seller’s original fragment of the famous tower.
The rare section for sale is 8.5ft tall and was recently restored to its original brown colour after remaining in the same private collection for over forty years.
It’s the fifth of the staircase pieces to be resold since 2013.
In 2016, an 8.5ft chunk of the iron fetched €523,800 (£455k) following a bidding war.
According to Artcurial, the May auction could reach up to €50,000 (£43k).
The auction house said: “On May 21st, 2026, Artcurial’s Art Deco department will present a piece of Eiffel Tower history: a section of the original spiral staircase dating from 1889, designed under the supervision of Gustave Eiffel. This piece, section number one of the staircase connecting the second and third floors, is estimated at €40,000-€50,000.
“Measuring 2.75 metres in total height (2.60 metres to the landing) and 1.75 metres in diameter, this structure, made of steel and riveted sheet metal, with 14 steps resting on a cross-shaped base, was part of the spiral staircase that once allowed visitors to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower.”
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