diff --git a/Core/Code/IO/mitkLog.h b/Core/Code/IO/mitkLog.h
index ecb4c9b370..bdd036ff76 100644
--- a/Core/Code/IO/mitkLog.h
+++ b/Core/Code/IO/mitkLog.h
@@ -1,105 +1,104 @@
 /*===================================================================
 
 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.
 
 ===================================================================*/
 
 
 #ifndef _MITK_LOG_H
 #define _MITK_LOG_H
 
 #include <MitkExports.h>
 #include <mbilog.h>
 
 namespace mitk
 {
 
   /*!
     \brief mbilog backend implementation for mitk
    */
   class MITK_CORE_EXPORT LoggingBackend : public mbilog::TextBackendBase
   {
     public:
 
      /** \brief overloaded method for receiving log message from mbilog
       */
       void ProcessMessage(const mbilog::LogMessage& );
 
      /** \brief registers MITK logging backend at mbilog
       */
       static void Register();
 
      /** \brief Unregisters MITK logging backend at mbilog
       */
       static void Unregister();
 
      /** \brief Sets extra log file path (additionally to the console log)
       */
       static void SetLogFile(const char *file);
 
       /** @brief Activates and handles a rolling log file with the given prefix and path.
        *         This method handles 10 log files with a given prefix, e.g. "myLogFile".
        *         The 10 log files will then look like this:
        *              myLogFile-0.log (current file)
        *              myLogFile-1.log (last file)
        *              myLogFile-2.log
        *                [...]
        *              myLogFile-9.log
        *
        *         Everytime this method this called, normally when MITK is started, then
        *         all log files are copied one file below (0 to 1, 1 to 2, and so on).
        *         The oldes logfile (number 9) is always deleted. So users have access to
        *         the log files of the last 10 runs.
        *  @throws mitk::Exception Throws an exception if there is a problem with renaming the logfiles, e.g., because of file access problems.
        *  @param  prefixPath  Should hold the prefix of the logfile together with its path. E.g., "C:/programs/mitk/myLogFile".
        */
       static void RotateLogFiles(const std::string& prefixPath);
 
       /** @brief Increments the names of logfiles with the given prefixPath.
        *         This means, if the prefixPath is "myLogFile" myLogFile-0.log
        *         is renamed to myLogFile-1.log, myLogFile-1.log to myLogFile-2.log,
        *         and so on. The oldest logfile is deleted. The number of log files is
        *         defined by the parameter "numLogFiles". The first logfile name is
        *         "free" (e.g., [prefix]-0.log) again. This name is retured.
        *  @param prefixPath   Should hold the prefix of the logfile together with its path. E.g., "C:/programs/mitk/myLogFile".
        *  @param numLogFiles  Sets the number of logfiles. Default value is 10. This means logfiles from [prefix]-0.log
        *                      to [prefix]-1.log are stored.
        *  @return             Returns a new logfile name which is free again because the old first log file was renamed.
        *  @throws mitk::Exception Throws an exception if there is a problem with renaming the logfiles, e.g., because of file access problems.
        */
       static std::string IncrementLogFileNames(const std::string& prefixPath, int numLogFiles = 10);
 
      /** @return Returns the log file if there is one. Returns an empty string
       *          if no log file is active.
       */
       static std::string GetLogFile();
 
      /** \brief Enables an additional logging output window by means of itk::outputwindow
      * This might be relevant for showing log output in applications with no default output console
       */
       static void EnableAdditionalConsoleWindow(bool enable);
 
      /** \brief Automatically extracts and removes the "--logfile <file>" parameters from the standard C main(argc,argv) parameter list and calls SetLogFile if needed
       */
       static void CatchLogFileCommandLineParameter(int &argc,char **argv);
 
-    protected:
       /** Checks if a file exists.
        *  @return Returns true if the file exists, false if not.
        */
-      static bool CheckIfFileExists(std::string filename);
+      static bool CheckIfFileExists(std::string& filename);
   };
 
 }
 
 #endif