Editing Four-Power Authorities (section)

{{Short description|Post-World War II arrangements among the four major Allied powers}}
{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}
Following the defeat of [[Nazi Germany]] and then the partition of German territory, two '''Four-Power Authorities''', in which the four main victor nations (the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], the [[Soviet Union]] and [[France]]) managed equally, were created.

The intended governing body of Germany until it could run itself was called the '''[[Allied Control Council]]'''. The commanders-in-chief exercised supreme authority in their respective zones and acted in concert on questions affecting the whole country. The capital [[Berlin]], which lay in the Soviet sector, was also divided into four sectors.

Only two jointly run four-power organizations survived the division of Germany. Both were in [[West Berlin]], [[Germany]], and existed during the [[Cold War]] from 1948 to 1989.  These were the [[Berlin Air Safety Centre]] and [[Spandau Prison]] (which was demolished in 1987 when  [[Rudolf Hess]], the sole remaining prisoner, died).