Elsässer Platz, so named in 1903, is home to a typical housing block from the 1920s facing Klarenthaler Straße as well as individual Art Nouveau and social housing buildings from the 1950s and 1960s.

Today, the Elsässer Platz children's house stands at the front of the square. This was the site of the Haus der Jugend, which housed the youth hostel in the 1950s. An initially temporary church was built on Klarenthaler Straße in 1928-31 to replace the confiscated Ringkirche, which served as a church hall for the Kreuzkirche congregation until 1965 and the Stephanuskirche congregation from 1966. It has been used for community work since 2013. The sports hall on Elsässer Platz was inaugurated in December 1959.

The square has a long tradition as a venue for events. In particular, the traditional Andreasmarkt took place on Elsässer Platz until the beginning of the 21st century. During the world wars, German soldiers were on drill on the site. During the Nazi era, the NSDAP used the square for its marches.

Today there is a large parking lot on Elsässer Platz. Discussions about building a spacious underground parking garage and transforming the square into a green space regularly dominate the city's building policy.