Index: Core/Code/Controllers/mitkRenderingManager.cpp
===================================================================
--- Core/Code/Controllers/mitkRenderingManager.cpp	(revision 28250)
+++ Core/Code/Controllers/mitkRenderingManager.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -443,7 +443,6 @@
 
   }
 
-
   int warningLevel = vtkObject::GetGlobalWarningDisplay();
   vtkObject::GlobalWarningDisplayOff();
 
@@ -453,6 +452,28 @@
     boundingBoxInitialized = true;
   }
 
+  if (geometry.IsNotNull() )
+  {// make sure bounding box has an extent bigger than zero in any direction
+    // clone the input geometry
+    Geometry3D::Pointer modifiedGeometry = dynamic_cast<Geometry3D*>( dataGeometry->Clone().GetPointer() );
+    assert(modifiedGeometry.IsNotNull());
+    Geometry3D::BoundsArrayType newBounds = modifiedGeometry->GetBounds();
+    for( unsigned int dimension = 0; ( 2 * dimension ) < newBounds.Size() ; dimension++ )
+    {
+      if( std::abs( newBounds[ 2 * dimension ] - newBounds[ 2 * dimension + 1 ] ) 
+        < mitk::eps
+        )
+      {
+        newBounds[ 2 * dimension + 1 ] += 1;
+      }
+    }
+
+    // set the newly calculated bounds array
+    modifiedGeometry->SetBounds(newBounds);
+
+    geometry = modifiedGeometry;
+  }
+
   RenderWindowList::iterator it;
   for ( it = m_RenderWindowList.begin(); it != m_RenderWindowList.end(); ++it )
   {
Index: Core/Code/Testing/mitkRenderingManagerTest.cpp
===================================================================
--- Core/Code/Testing/mitkRenderingManagerTest.cpp	(revision 28250)
+++ Core/Code/Testing/mitkRenderingManagerTest.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@
 
 #include "mitkTestingMacros.h"
 
+#include <vtkCubeSource.h>
+#include "mitkSurface.h"
 
+
 //Propertylist Test
 
 
@@ -58,6 +61,63 @@
   MITK_TEST_CONDITION(propertyList == renderingManager->GetPropertyList(), "Testing if the propertylist has changed during the last tests" )
 }
 
+static void TestSurfaceLoading( mitk::RenderingManager::Pointer renderingManager )
+{
+  // create and render two dimensional surface
+  vtkCubeSource* plane = vtkCubeSource::New();
+
+  double planeBounds[] = { -1.0, 1.0, -1.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0 };
+  double cubeBounds[] = { -0.5, 0.5, -0.5, 0.5, -0.5, 0.5 };
+  plane->SetBounds( planeBounds ); 
+  plane->SetCenter( 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 );
+
+  vtkPolyData* polys = plane->GetOutput();
+  mitk::Surface::Pointer mitkPlane = mitk::Surface::New();
+  mitkPlane->SetVtkPolyData( polys );
+  plane->Delete();
+
+  mitk::DataNode::Pointer planeNode = mitk::DataNode::New();
+  planeNode->SetData( mitkPlane );
+
+  renderingManager->GetDataStorage()->Add( planeNode );
+
+  mitk::Geometry3D::Pointer planeGeometry = mitk::Geometry3D::New();
+  planeGeometry->SetFloatBounds( planeBounds );
+
+  MITK_TEST_CONDITION( renderingManager->InitializeViews( planeGeometry ), "Testing if two dimensional Geometry3Ds can be displayed" )
+
+  //clear rendering
+  renderingManager->GetDataStorage()->Remove( planeNode );
+
+  renderingManager->InitializeViews();
+
+  // create and render three dimensional surface
+  vtkCubeSource* cube = vtkCubeSource::New();
+  cube->SetBounds( cubeBounds ); 
+  cube->SetCenter( 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 );
+
+  vtkPolyData* polyCube = cube->GetOutput();
+  mitk::Surface::Pointer mitkCube = mitk::Surface::New();
+  mitkCube->SetVtkPolyData( polyCube );
+  cube->Delete();
+
+  mitk::DataNode::Pointer cubeNode = mitk::DataNode::New();
+  cubeNode->SetData( mitkCube );
+
+  renderingManager->GetDataStorage()->Add( cubeNode );
+
+  mitk::Geometry3D::Pointer cubeGeometry = mitk::Geometry3D::New();
+  cubeGeometry->SetFloatBounds( cubeBounds );
+
+  MITK_TEST_CONDITION( renderingManager->InitializeViews( cubeGeometry ), "Testing if three dimensional Geometry3Ds can be displayed" )
+
+    //clear rendering
+  renderingManager->GetDataStorage()->Remove( cubeNode );
+
+  renderingManager->InitializeViews();
+
+}
+
 }; //mitkDataNodeTestClass
 int mitkRenderingManagerTest(int /* argc */, char* /*argv*/[])
 {
@@ -99,6 +159,8 @@
 
   mitkRenderingManagerTestClass::TestPropertyList(myRenderingManager);
 
+  mitkRenderingManagerTestClass::TestSurfaceLoading( myRenderingManager );
+
   // write your own tests here and use the macros from mitkTestingMacros.h !!!
   // do not write to std::cout and do not return from this function yourself!