Fragment of Eiffel Tower Staircase Sells for €450,000 at Paris Auction

A section of the original Eiffel Tower staircase has sold at auction in Paris for more than €450,000, turning a small rust-colored spiral of iron steps into one of the week’s most expensive pieces of architectural nostalgia.

The staircase fragment, sold Thursday by the auction house Artcurial, reached a final price of €450,160 after attracting strong interest from collectors. The piece consists of just 14 steps arranged in a spiral formation, standing roughly 2.75 meters high. On paper, it sounds suspiciously like something salvaged from an old fire escape. In reality, it once formed part of one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks.

The staircase originally belonged to the Eiffel Tower’s internal helical stairway connecting the monument’s second and third levels when the tower opened in 1889. At the time, visitors climbed part of the structure using the iron staircase before later modernization projects transformed access inside the tower.

During renovation work in 1983, the original staircase was removed as elevators were installed and upgraded. The stairway was then dismantled and divided into 24 separate sections, many of which later entered museums, private collections and public displays around the world.

According to Artcurial, relatively few of those pieces have remained in France or stayed with their original owners over the decades, making appearances at auction increasingly uncommon.

The staircase section sold this week had reportedly remained in a private collection for around 40 years. Before the auction, specialists estimated its value at between €120,000 and €150,000, meaning the final result significantly exceeded expectations.

Even so, the sale did not set a record for Eiffel Tower staircase memorabilia. In 2016, another section of the original stairway sold through Sotheby’s for more than €523,000.

Collectors have long shown interest in pieces connected to globally recognized monuments, particularly items linked to structures with strong cultural identities. The Eiffel Tower, designed by engineer Gustave Eiffel and completed for the 1889 World’s Fair, remains one of the most visited landmarks in the world and perhaps the only tourist attraction capable of making millions of people voluntarily queue for an elevator while pretending the wait is part of the romance.

Over the years, various sections of the dismantled staircase have found homes in locations far beyond Paris. Some pieces are displayed in private gardens in Japan, while others have appeared near New York’s Statue of Liberty and even inside Disneyland properties.

The latest sale highlights the enduring commercial appeal of historic architectural fragments, especially those tied to monuments carrying symbolic value far beyond their physical materials. Buyers are not simply purchasing iron steps; they are buying proximity to history, prestige and, in this case, a conversation piece that is significantly more impressive than a framed postcard from Paris.

The identity of the winning bidder was not publicly disclosed following the auction.

For now, at least one more fragment of the Eiffel Tower has changed hands — a reminder that in the world of high-end collectibles, even old staircases can climb remarkably high.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer