The Boulevard du Crime was the nickname given in the 19th century to the Boulevard du Temple

Boulevard du Temple

The Boulevard du Temple is a thoroughfare in Paris that separates the 3rd arrondissement from the 11th. It runs from the Place de la République to the Place Pasdeloup, and its name refers to the nearby Knights Templars' Temple where they established their Paris priory.-History:The Boulevard du...

 in Paris because of the many crime melodramas that were shown every night in its many theaters. It is notorious in French history for having lost so many theatres during the rebuilding of Paris

Haussmann's renovation of Paris

Haussmann's Renovation of Paris, or the Haussmann Plan, was a modernization program of Paris commissioned by Napoléon III and led by the Seine prefect, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870...

 by Baron Haussmann

Baron Haussmann

Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann , was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris...

 in 1862. Of the theatres on the boulevard, only the Folies-Mayer escaped demolition during the construction of Place de la République

Place de la République

The Place de la République is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. It is named after the French Republic. The Métro station of République lies beneath the square.-History:...

—solely because it was on opposite side of the street.

In spite of the name, the "Boulevard of Crime" was not dangerous or unpleasant. In fact, it was one of the most popular places in Paris. Every night more than 20,000 people came to walk, sing, laugh and have fun.

The "Boulevard du Crime" is featured in the 1945 film Children of Paradise

Children of Paradise

Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 French film by French director Marcel Carné, made during the German occupation of France during World War II...

 directed by Marcel Carné

Marcel Carné

-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...

 and gives its name to the first of two sections of the film.

Theaters on Boulevard du Crime demolished in the great reorganization of 1862

• the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique
  Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique
  The theatre was rebuilt to plans by the architects Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Jean-François-Joseph Lecointe on the boulevard Saint-Martin, at the corner of rue de Bondy...
  
  
• the Théâtre Lyrique
  Théâtre Lyrique
  The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century . The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852...
  
  
• the Cirque Olympique
• the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
  Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
  The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue for the genre of mélodrame.In 1862, the theatre moved to the...
  
  
• the Théâtre des Funambules
  Théâtre des Funambules
  The Théâtre des Funambules was a former theater located on the boulevard du Temple in Paris, sometimes called the Boulevard du Crime. It was located between the prominent Théâtre de la Gaîté, and the much smaller Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques.Originally an informal venue for acrobatics and...
  
  
• the Théâtre de la Gaîté
• the Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques
  Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques
  Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques is a name that was used for a number of different theatres in Paris from 1785 to 1890.- First :...
  
  
• the Théâtre des Associés (renamed Theatre Patriotic under the Revolution, and Théâtre de Mme Saqui)
• the Théâtre des Pygmées
• the Petit-Lazare
• many other cabarets and cafés

External links

• Le Boulevard du crime by Mario Proth, Balitout-Questroy and Co., Paris, 1872