diff --git a/CMakeExternals/ITK.cmake b/CMakeExternals/ITK.cmake
index 3b099de8ab..1e86d97709 100644
--- a/CMakeExternals/ITK.cmake
+++ b/CMakeExternals/ITK.cmake
@@ -1,66 +1,66 @@
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # ITK
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # Sanity checks
 if(DEFINED ITK_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${ITK_DIR})
   message(FATAL_ERROR "ITK_DIR variable is defined but corresponds to non-existing directory")
 endif()
 
 set(proj ITK)
 set(proj_DEPENDENCIES GDCM)
 if(MITK_USE_Python)
   list(APPEND proj_DEPENDENCIES CableSwig)
 endif()
 
 set(ITK_DEPENDS ${proj})
 
 if(NOT DEFINED ITK_DIR)
 
   set(additional_cmake_args )
   if(MINGW)
     set(additional_cmake_args
         -DCMAKE_USE_WIN32_THREADS:BOOL=ON
         -DCMAKE_USE_PTHREADS:BOOL=OFF)
   endif()
 
-  if(MITK_USE_Python)
+  if(MITK_USE_Python OR MITK_BUILD_org.mitk.gui.qt.python)
     list(APPEND additional_cmake_args
          -DUSE_WRAP_ITK:BOOL=ON
          -DITK_USE_REVIEW:BOOL=ON
          -DCableSwig_DIR:PATH=${CableSwig_DIR}
          -DWRAP_ITK_JAVA:BOOL=OFF
          -DWRAP_ITK_TCL:BOOL=OFF
         )
   endif()
 
   if(GDCM_IS_2_0_18)
     set(ITK_PATCH_COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -DTEMPLATE_FILE:FILEPATH=${MITK_SOURCE_DIR}/CMakeExternals/EmptyFileForPatching.dummy -P ${MITK_SOURCE_DIR}/CMakeExternals/PatchITK-3.20.cmake)
   endif()
 
   ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
      SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${proj}-src
      BINARY_DIR ${proj}-build
      PREFIX ${proj}-cmake
      URL ${MITK_THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_PREFIX_URL}/InsightToolkit-3.20.1.tar.gz
      URL_MD5 90342ffa78bd88ae48b3f62866fbf050
      INSTALL_COMMAND ""
      PATCH_COMMAND ${ITK_PATCH_COMMAND}
      CMAKE_GENERATOR ${gen}
      CMAKE_ARGS
        ${ep_common_args}
        ${additional_cmake_args}
        -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=OFF
        -DBUILD_EXAMPLES:BOOL=OFF
        -DITK_USE_SYSTEM_GDCM:BOOL=ON
        -DGDCM_DIR:PATH=${GDCM_DIR}
      DEPENDS ${proj_DEPENDENCIES}
     )
 
   set(ITK_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${proj}-build)
 
 else()
 
   mitkMacroEmptyExternalProject(${proj} "${proj_DEPENDENCIES}")
 
 endif()
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/CMakeLists.txt b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/CMakeLists.txt
index 1790b048bf..9d894df5de 100644
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 project(org_mitk_gui_qt_python)
 
 MACRO_CREATE_MITK_CTK_PLUGIN(
   EXPORT_DIRECTIVE org_mitk_gui_qt_python_EXPORT
   EXPORTED_INCLUDE_SUFFIXES src
   MODULE_DEPENDENCIES QmitkExt CTK)
+
+configure_file(PythonPath.h.in
+  "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/PythonPath.h" @ONLY)
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/PythonPath.h.in b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/PythonPath.h.in
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..945904a8c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/PythonPath.h.in
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#define PYTHONPATH_ITK_LIBRARY_DIRS "@ITK_LIBRARY_DIRS@"
+#define PYTHONPATH_WRAP_ITK_DIR "@ITK_DIR@/Wrapping/WrapITK/Python"
diff --git a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/src/internal/mitkPluginActivator.cpp b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/src/internal/mitkPluginActivator.cpp
index 0453f271cf..5a897f6c56 100644
--- a/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/src/internal/mitkPluginActivator.cpp
+++ b/Plugins/org.mitk.gui.qt.python/src/internal/mitkPluginActivator.cpp
@@ -1,42 +1,67 @@
 /*===================================================================
 
 The Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit (MITK)
 
 Copyright (c) German Cancer Research Center,
 Division of Medical and Biological Informatics.
 All rights reserved.
 
 This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without
 even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
 
 See LICENSE.txt or http://www.mitk.org for details.
 
 ===================================================================*/
 #include "mitkPluginActivator.h"
 #include <QtPlugin>
 #include "QmitkPythonView.h"
+#include "PythonPath.h"
 #include <ctkAbstractPythonManager.h>
 
 namespace mitk
 {
 
-void PluginActivator::start(ctkPluginContext* context)
-{
-  BERRY_REGISTER_EXTENSION_CLASS(QmitkPythonView, context)
-}
+    void PluginActivator::start(ctkPluginContext* context)
+    {
+      MITK_INFO << "registering python paths";
 
-void PluginActivator::stop(ctkPluginContext* context)
-{
-    Q_UNUSED(context)
-}
+      QString itkLibDirs(PYTHONPATH_ITK_LIBRARY_DIRS);
+      MITK_INFO << "itkLibDirs" << itkLibDirs.toStdString();
+      QString itkWrapItkDir(PYTHONPATH_WRAP_ITK_DIR);
+      MITK_INFO << "itkWrapItkDir" << itkWrapItkDir.toStdString();
 
-ctkAbstractPythonManager *PluginActivator::GetPythonManager()
-{
-    static ctkAbstractPythonManager PythonManager;
-    return &PythonManager;
-}
+      QString basecommand = "sys.path.append('%1');";
+      QString pythonCommand;
+      if( ! itkWrapItkDir.isEmpty() )
+      {
+         pythonCommand = basecommand.arg(itkLibDirs);
+         MITK_INFO << "issuing command " << pythonCommand.toStdString();
+         GetPythonManager()->executeString(pythonCommand, ctkAbstractPythonManager::SingleInput );
+
+         pythonCommand = basecommand.arg(itkWrapItkDir);
+         MITK_INFO << "issuing command " << pythonCommand.toStdString();
+         GetPythonManager()->executeString(pythonCommand, ctkAbstractPythonManager::SingleInput );
+      }
+      else
+      {
+          MITK_WARN << "No wrapping directory set for WrapITK. ITK Python Wrapping not available!";
+      }
+
+      BERRY_REGISTER_EXTENSION_CLASS(QmitkPythonView, context)
+    }
+
+    void PluginActivator::stop(ctkPluginContext* context)
+    {
+        Q_UNUSED(context)
+    }
+
+    ctkAbstractPythonManager *PluginActivator::GetPythonManager()
+    {
+        static ctkAbstractPythonManager PythonManager;
+        return &PythonManager;
+    }
 
 }
 
 Q_EXPORT_PLUGIN2(org_mitk_gui_qt_python, mitk::PluginActivator)