In the Middle Ages, the place was the forecourt of the castle of the counts of Holland. From here one entered the forecourt (or Buitenhof) of the castle through the Voorpoort (Prison Gate). It also served as a tournament field until it was moved to the Tournooiveld (a short street between the Korte Vijverberg and the Korte Voorhout) in the later Middle Ages. The square has the shape of an isosceles triangle. Many public executions were carried out on the site between the 14th and 18th centuries, during which a number of historical figures were killed.
On the Place there is a large statue of the most famous victim: Johan de Witt. He was the most important politician of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. On August 20, 1672, De Witt and his brother Cornelis were lynched on Place by the people of The Hague. Their bodies were then hung on a pole on the nearby Vijverberg.
In 1918, a large statue was erected on the Place in honor of Johan de Witt. The statue points with its finger to the place where the murder took place.
The buildings around the Place are all built separately and therefore differ in style. Many buildings were built in Art Nouveau style