Pumpwerk Onstmettingen, Historical pumping station in Albstadt, Germany

The Pumpwerk Onstmettingen is a pumping station in Albstadt built from a concrete basin measuring 9 by 9 meters with a depth of 2.5 meters. A reinforced concrete ceiling spans above it, supported by two sturdy pillars that form the main structural frame.

Onstmettingen built its own gasworks during industrialisation, which created the need for a municipal water network. In 1909 the community bought the spring-fed pond site, dug a 9 by 9 metre basin 2.5 metres deep, and placed the Pumphäusle with an attached workshop on its concrete cover. A gas-engine piston pump delivered 10 litres per second to connected houses and to a 500 m³ reservoir behind the Gasthaus Löwe. After the town received electricity in 1923 the gas engine gave way to an electric pump, and a second pump was added in 1930 for redundancy. Independent supply ended in 1953, when the municipality joined the Zweckverband Wasserversorgung Zollernalb.

Locals call the building Pumphäusle. Its name links the pump to the Swabian diminutive for a small house. The structure sits by the Rathaus in Onstmettingen, a district that ran its own waterworks until 1953, and it is opened to visitors only on rare occasions.

The site is centrally located next to the town hall and easily accessible on foot while exploring the town center. It is best visited during daylight hours to see the concrete structure and surrounding architecture clearly.

The elevated tank behind the former Löwe inn held 500 cubic metres and was fed at 10 litres per second. In 1930 a second pump was added so repairs could be carried out without cutting the supply. The spring pool itself had been framed in stone around 1770.