Despite its name, the square has had a tumultuous history ' home to a busy guillotine in the Revolution and the site of the Germans' last foot­hold in Paris in 1944 ' and handles some aggressive traffic today.
The square was once the site of both public executions and the Germans' last stand in Paris in 1994.
The square is famous as one of the only areas of Paris where a German soldier never set foot during the war.