The Pomme d'Or Hotel is a hotel in Saint Helier, Jersey. It was founded in 1837 and was used as the Nazi naval headquarters during the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands. It is the main focus for Jersey's Liberation Day celebrations.

Early history

The original site of the Pomme d'Or had been occupied since 1802, initially stables were built on it. In 1837, the owners demolished the stables and built a hotel in their place. It was named the Pomme D'Or after a local cider produced nearby. In 1852, the French author

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

stayed at the hotel during his exile from France. Following the end of the First World War, the hotel had become dilapidated until 1932 when the Seymour family bought it and renovated it.

Occupation

When the Germans invaded in 1940, the Pomme d'Or was requisitioned by the Nazis as the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' Naval Headquarters. The '' Reichskriegsflagge'' was flown from the hotel's flagpole. During the Liberation of the Channel Islands, soldiers of the British Army climbed to the balcony and removed the Nazi flag and replaced it with the Union Jack. Since then, the act of raising the Union Jack on the hotel balcony has been ceremonially repeated yearly as the focal point for Jersey's Liberation Day celebrations.

Later history

In 2006, the hotel was renovated for a visit by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2012, the Pomme d'Or hosted the

British–Irish Council The British–Irish Council (BIC) ( ga, Comhairle na Breataine-na hÉireann) is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to improve collaboration between its members in a number of areas including transport, the environment, and energy. Its ...

for a discussion on the misuse of drugs in the British Isles. In 2015, Jersey moved their Liberation Day celebrations away from Liberation Square and to the People's Park, which resulted in the Pomme d'Or not hosting the traditional flag-raising ceremony that year. The celebrations and commemorative flag raising returned to the hotel the next year.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Saint Helier German occupation of Jersey during World War II Kriegsmarine 1837 establishments in the British Empire Hotels in Jersey