diff --git a/Modules/Core/include/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.h b/Modules/Core/include/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.h
index b97d040..e378cf8 100644
--- a/Modules/Core/include/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.h
+++ b/Modules/Core/include/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.h
@@ -194,6 +194,19 @@ protected:
   virtual void ResetMapper( BaseRenderer* renderer ) override;
 
   /**
+     * @brief Updates legacy properties to current behavior/interpretation.
+     * @param renderer The respective renderer of the mitkRenderWindow.
+     *
+     * Whenever a mapper decides to change its property types or its
+     * interpretation of certain values, it should add something to this
+     * method and call it before methods like ApplyProperties();
+     *
+     * This is particularly helpful when dealing with data from
+     * archive/scene files that were created before changes.
+     */
+  virtual void FixupLegacyProperties(DataNode* node, const BaseRenderer* renderer);
+
+  /**
      * @brief ApplyAllProperties Pass all the properties to VTK.
      * @param renderer The respective renderer of the mitkRenderWindow.
      */
diff --git a/Modules/Core/src/Rendering/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.cpp b/Modules/Core/src/Rendering/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.cpp
index 0cbf30d..16d3cd4 100644
--- a/Modules/Core/src/Rendering/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.cpp
+++ b/Modules/Core/src/Rendering/mitkSurfaceVtkMapper2D.cpp
@@ -258,15 +258,31 @@ void mitk::SurfaceVtkMapper2D::GenerateDataForRenderer( mitk::BaseRenderer *rend
   }
 }
 
+void mitk::SurfaceVtkMapper2D::FixupLegacyProperties(DataNode* node, const BaseRenderer* renderer)
+{
+  // Before bug 18528, "line width" was an IntProperty, now it is a FloatProperty
+  float lineWidth = 1.0f;
+  if ( !node->GetFloatProperty("line width", lineWidth, renderer) )
+  {
+    int legacyLineWidth = lineWidth;
+    if ( node->GetIntProperty("line width", legacyLineWidth, renderer) )
+    {
+      node->ReplaceProperty("line width", FloatProperty::New(static_cast<float>(legacyLineWidth)));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 void mitk::SurfaceVtkMapper2D::ApplyAllProperties(mitk::BaseRenderer* renderer)
 {
-  const DataNode * node = GetDataNode();
+  DataNode * node = GetDataNode();
 
   if(node == NULL)
   {
     return;
   }
 
+  FixupLegacyProperties(node, renderer);
+
   float lineWidth = 1.0f;
   node->GetFloatProperty("line width", lineWidth, renderer);