When France lost the Franco-Prussian war to Prussia in 1871 the entire Koechlin family decided to become citizens of Switzerland and thus dropped French citizenship.

[1] Maurice attended the lycée in Mulhouse, then between 1873 and 1877 studied civil engineering at the Polytechnikum Zürich under Carl Culmann.

In 1887 he started work on his plans for the "Tour de 300 mètres" in Paris, along with his younger brother Henri Koechlin and civil engineer Émile Nouguier.

[4] Major structural designs include: Though named after a project of Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower – symbol of Paris – has its structural concept and form from the responsible chief engineer Maurice Koechlin.

He possessed therefore the best qualifications for evolving such technically innovative conceptions for which Eiffel and his firm were renowned.