[4] During the 17th century, French high nobility started to move from the central Marais, the then-aristocratic district of Paris where nobles used to build their urban mansions[5] (see Hotel de Soubise), to the clearer, less populated and less polluted Faubourg Saint-Germain.

After the Revolution many of these mansions, offering magnificent inner spaces, many reception rooms and exquisite decoration, were confiscated and turned into national institutions.

The French expression "les ors de la Republique" (literally "the golds of the Republic"), refers to the luxurious environment of the national palaces (outstanding official residences and priceless works of art), comes from that time.

During the Restauration, the Faubourg recovered its past glory as the most exclusive high nobility district of Paris and was the political heart of the country, home to the Ultra Party.

After the Fall of Charles X, the district lost most of its political influence but remained the centre of the French upper class' social life.

The mayor of the 7th, Rachida Dati, was Minister of Justice under Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency and a member of the European Parliament for the centre-right UMP from 2009 to 2019.

[12][13] In the 2017 French presidential election, the 7th gave right-wing candidate François Fillon 52.7% of its votes in the first round, compared to his poor national showing of only 20%.