The restaurant, situated in of Berlin's major industrial sites, provides a spectacular ambience and atmosphere. The pump station VII at Lützowstraße is an example for a key waste water pumping plant dating back to the times of the construction of the first comprehensive sewage system for Berlin.

It was at the core of "Radial System VII", a system of canalisation which covered an area which stretched beyond the city limits of late 19th century Berlin, including adjacent suburban areas such as the northern part of what is now the district of Schöneberg up to Grunewaldstraße, and the east of the Charlottenburg district to "Bahnhof Zoo" railway station.

Pump station VII was built from 1881 to 1883. It consists of a boiler and engine house, a residential building to house communal workers and two workshops, which are still standing today. The three pumps operated in the main building - a large hall that today houses the restaurant. Until the 1930s, the complete plant was powered by steam engines.

Later, two of the three pumps were refitted to be electrically powered. The third pump, which remained and is now at display in the restaurant, was equipped with a large six-cylinder ship's diesel engine of 300 hp, build by MWM. Above this machinery a hydraulic lifting platform was installed, capable of lifting up to 10 tonnes.

The diesel engine drove the gigantic flywheel. Connecting rods then drove the double piston pump. In this way it became possible to pump waste water over a considerable distance uphill from the urban canalisation system to the sewage farms of the remote Ruhleben district.

Pump station VII was taken out of service in the 1970s. All pumps were dismantled except for one, which was meticulously restored and listed as a historical monument.