The Bristol Hotel was a well-known hotel at Stationsplein in Arnhem both before and after the war. This was entirely due to the owner, Jan Dommering. Born in Winschoten on 23 November 1882, he moved from Groningen to Arnhem in the autumn of 1907, where he opened his Hotel “Bristol’ in Bovenbergstraat at the corner of Stationsplein. The bedrooms had central heating, electric light and a radio. Before this time Dommering had worked in other places, including Genoa, Nice, Munich and Ostend. [1]

Jan Dommering was in fact better known as a billiard player and winner of several national championships. He won the European championship in The Hague in 1925 and was crowned World Champion in Paris in the same year. In 1927 Dommering bettered the world record for the highest series in a match against Piet de Leeuw. [2] Dommering continued playing billiards throughout the war years, For example, he turned out once more for the Biljart Vereniging Arnhem (Arnhem Billiards Association) in the national billiards championships held from 15 to 18 March 1942. [3] However, he failed to win this match.

The 20 November 1942 issue of the German-controlled newspaper Het Vaderland even ran a full-length article about Dommering. (Click here for the complete article) “By the time he was ten he had already played his first short billiards matches in his father’s room in Winschoten. There he was taught the rules and the first steps under the tutorship of dad Dommering, himself a much-feared player. (…..) Meanwhile - in 1942 - Mr Dommering has no intention of bidding farewell to the sport of billiards. On the contrary, he is still full of good cheer. The last time he was champion 45/2 of the Netherlands was in 1936. He still managed to come runner-up to Sweering in 1939. He now intends participating this year and on the 28th of the month will meet v.d. Pol in the Arnhem tournament by way of training. So Jan Dommering still has both feet firmly planted in today’s billiards world, which in his opinion continues to improve both in quality and quantity.” [4]

In the meantime the Hotel Bristol was also used by the resistance as a meeting place. Dommering himself carried out a lot of solo work within the underground movement, but did indeed provide accommodation for evaders. He continued with his resistance activities even when German soldiers were billeted in his hotel. They quickly realized that he was no lover of theirs and he was imprisoned for a while, but released through lack of evidence. [5]

When the majority of the Arnhem population was forced to leave the city in the last week of September 1944, Jan Dommering was one of those who remained behind. On 16 October 1944 Peter Heiser, a member of the Arnhem Technische Nooddienst (Technical Emergency Service), wrote the following in his diary:

“11.00 hours Food Provision and Hotel Service (J. Dommering Sr.) meeting. Last night the Germans held a party in “Palermo”, Nieuwe Plein. About 60 men. A few shells passing overhead, rain, no aircraft. For a few days now people from Velp have been turning up to help with loading the trains. They leave fully packed. Pay, 1 guilder per hour. Who gave the order? Hauptmann Friedrichs [Wirtschaftskommando X] or the Raümungskommando?” [6]

After the war the resistance movement presented Dommering with a medal. The members of the former Technische Nooddienst, which was set up in September 1944 to keep areas of Arnhem inhabitable after the evacuation, held a meeting in Dommering’s hotel on 14 January 1946, during which a request to the College van Burgemeester en Wethouders (College of Burgomaster and Aldermen) was formulated. They wanted an official study to be made into the services of the Technische Nooddienst in the period between the evacuation and the liberation of Arnhem. [7] Dommering worked closely with this service and also lived in his hotel for months after the evacuation of Arnhem. Nothing came of the request.

In 1952 Hotel Bristol was demolished to make way for the new station. Unfortunately the satirical mural about the German occupation that Jan Dommering had had painted, was also lost. Later, photos of this mural were offered to Winston Churchill. A new Hotel Bristol was built near Stationsplein. [8]

Jan Dommering passed away in Arnhem on 7 October 1958, aged 75. Almost thirty years after his death his merit as many-times billiards champion was honoured with the Jan Dommeringpad (Jan Dommering Lane), close to Jansbinnensingel. [9]