The tower's builder, Gustave Eiffel, was born with a different last name: Bönickshausen. His father had been a military officer of German origin but in 1877, in the wake of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Gustave officially changed his name to avoid being tainted as a Prussian spy. Of course by the time the tower was built, Bönickshausen had been replaced by Eiffel.