Gustave Eiffel the city of Dijon, Côte-d'Or, the first child of Catherine-Mélanie (née Moneuse) and Alexandre Bönickhausen (). He was a descendant of Jean-René Bönickhausen, who had emigrated from the German town of Marmagen and settled in Paris at the beginning of the 18th century. The family adopted the name Eiffel as a reference to the Eifel mountains in the region from which they had come. Although the family always used the name Eiffel, Gustave's name was registered at birth as Bonickhausen dit Eiffel, and was not officially changed to Eiffel until 1880. At the time of Gustave's birth his father, an
Eiffel Tower replicas and derivatives Eiffel Tower replicas and derivatives As one of the most iconic and recognisable structures in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for the creation of over 50 similar towers around the world. Most are not exact replicas, though there are many like it. The Eiffel Tower was an inspiration for the Blackpool Tower in Blackpool, England, which proved that a tower could be a profitable tourist attraction. The Blackpool Tower was originally the idea of the Standard Contract and Debenture Corporation, based in the Isle of Man, who proposed the erection of two towers, one in Blackpool