A Piece of Paris for 450,160 Euros

Fourteen steps. Rust-colored. As heavy as a compact car. And suddenly worth 450,160 euros. One might say: That’s quite a lot of money for an old staircase. But anyone who speaks like that underestimates the actual commodity. What was auctioned in Paris was not iron. What was auctioned was memory. A segment of the original spiral staircase of the Eiffel Tower changed hands on May 21st. That same staircase over which visitors to the 1889 World’s Fair once climbed — polished, amazed, perhaps a bit out of breath. Fourteen steps ...