Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Office of the Governor (Spandau Prison), British...

FCO 161

1945-2000

This series contains records which document the running of Spandau prison and the lives of the prisoners. The records were sent to the UK by the last British Governor after the death of the last inmate and the dismantling of the prison in 1987. The collection includes documents held as evidence in the Hess theft case and returned by the Prosecutor's Office.

See also FCO 90

Public Record(s)

English, French, German and Russian

• Allied Kommandatura, 1945-1990
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British Military Government, Berlin, 1968-1990
• Foreign Office, Control Commission for Germany (British Element), Military Government, British Sector, Berlin, 1947-1953

71 file(s)

Open unless otherwise stated

from 2017 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Crime

Prisons

1947 to 1988

Occasional further accruals can be expected.

Selected under Record Collection Policy criteria 1.1, documenting the work of diplomatic staff in Berlin operating as part of the British Military Government. Policy files preserved where information on the files has not been copied to FCO in London or other lead department.

The British Military Government, Berlin, was established after the Second World War to run the British sector of Berlin and work with the forces of the other allied states to manage the various joint bodies established in the city.

After the war Spandau Prison was operated by the Four-Power Authorities to house the Nazi war criminals sentenced to imprisonment at the Nuremburg Trials. Each of the four countries (France, UK, USA and USSR) were represented by a governor, and each took turns being responsible for overall administration and the changing of the guard for the prison.

Spandau Prison closed in 1987 following the death of the last inmate, Rudolf Hess, and was demolished.