Four Power Agreement on Berlin

The four foreign ministers, Sir Alec Douglas-Home of the United Kingdom, Andrei Gromyko of the Soviet Union, Maurice Schumann of France, and William P. Rogers of the United States signed the agreement and put it into force at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Berlin on 3 June 1972.

In order to reach such improvements, the ultimate political definition of the status of Berlin was purposely left vague, thus it preserved the differing legal positions of the two sides.

The Quadripartite Agreement is drawn up "in the English,[i] French[ii] and Russian[iii] languages, all texts being equally authentic."

However, the agreement contributed greatly both to a reduction of tensions between East and West over Berlin and to expanded contacts between the two parts of Germany.

Mary Sarotte wrote in 2001 that "...despite all the fears, both sides managed to make many bargains as a result of the détente dialogue.

Arrival of the four foreign ministers at the Allied Control Council headquarters building for the signing of the final protocol on 3 June 1972
In 1969 Berlin Brigade troops of the U.S. Army roar through morning rush hour traffic in a Zehlendorf residential district, a routine reminder that Berlin was still legally occupied by the World War II victors.