Notwithstanding the area became a popular spot for bourgeois social life and military drilling, Charles XIV's initiative never was appreciated, and in the 1860s the space was subsequently furnished with the tree-lined avenues still giving the park its character and through which the old name prevailed.

Eventually these protests not only saved the trees and caused the station entrances to be located east and west of the park, but they also marked the end of a period when many old buildings in central Stockholm were demolished.

The Neoclassicist composition of Gustaf Göthe (1779–1838), inaugurated in 1821, is escorted by four lions sculpted by Bengt Erland Fogelberg (1786–1854), added in 1824, and each of which are holding a ball carrying the Norwegian and Swedish coat of arms alluding the Swedish-Norwegian Union initiated by the king.

On the location for the statue of Charles XII was the palace Makalös ("Peerless"), owned by the Constable of the Realm and Count of Läckö Jakob De la Gardie and completed in 1642.

Since the exposition of 1866, the western part of the square, named Lagerlunden ("The Laurel Grove"), is renowned for the exclusive dining-rooms of the rebuilt opera house.

[14][15] In the early 1970s, this was the location for the Battle of the Elms (Slaget om almarna), protests which ended the demolition of central portions of Stockholm.

[16] The mythological characters inhabiting the fountain are the ocean god Ægir and his wife Rán with their nine daughters, all listening to the river spirit Nix playing his harp.

The six swans, still offering fresh water to passers-by, were late additions, the artist condescending the audience's apprehension of the sculpture as mere luxuriousness.

As one of thirteen objects selected for a project 1999–2006 to decorate prominent buildings and milieus in Stockholm with fiber optics, the fountain was furnished with a score of light sources accentuating the sculptures and cascades of water, toppled by a laterally emitting cable in the upper bowl.

[18] In August 1998, a total number of 63 Sakura trees ("Japanese cherry") were planted; each spring when they all blossom is an experience of beauty and scent in the park.

Additionally, city architect Alexander Wolodarski commissioned artist Sivert Lindblom to design the large bronze urns now lined up along the new rectangular fountain.