diff --git a/CMakeExternals/VTK.cmake b/CMakeExternals/VTK.cmake
index abcb30c254..c2bd4d8678 100644
--- a/CMakeExternals/VTK.cmake
+++ b/CMakeExternals/VTK.cmake
@@ -1,118 +1,114 @@
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # VTK
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 if(WIN32)
   option(VTK_USE_SYSTEM_FREETYPE OFF)
 else(WIN32)
   option(VTK_USE_SYSTEM_FREETYPE ON)
 endif(WIN32)
 
 # Sanity checks
 if(DEFINED VTK_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${VTK_DIR})
   message(FATAL_ERROR "VTK_DIR variable is defined but corresponds to non-existing directory")
 endif()
 
 set(proj VTK)
 set(proj_DEPENDENCIES )
 set(VTK_DEPENDS ${proj})
 
 if(MITK_USE_HDF5)
   list(APPEND proj_DEPENDENCIES HDF5)
 endif()
 
 if(NOT DEFINED VTK_DIR)
 
   set(additional_cmake_args )
   if(MINGW)
     set(additional_cmake_args
         -DCMAKE_USE_WIN32_THREADS:BOOL=ON
         -DCMAKE_USE_PTHREADS:BOOL=OFF
         -DVTK_USE_VIDEO4WINDOWS:BOOL=OFF # no header files provided by MinGW
         )
   endif()
 
   # Optionally enable memory leak checks for any objects derived from vtkObject. This
   # will force unit tests to fail if they have any of these memory leaks.
   option(MITK_VTK_DEBUG_LEAKS OFF)
   mark_as_advanced(MITK_VTK_DEBUG_LEAKS)
   list(APPEND additional_cmake_args
        -DVTK_DEBUG_LEAKS:BOOL=${MITK_VTK_DEBUG_LEAKS}
       )
 
   if(MITK_USE_Python)
     if(NOT MITK_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON)
      list(APPEND proj_DEPENDENCIES Python)
      set(_vtk_install_python_dir -DVTK_INSTALL_PYTHON_MODULE_DIR:FILEPATH=${MITK_PYTHON_SITE_DIR})
     else()
       set(_vtk_install_python_dir -DVTK_INSTALL_PYTHON_MODULE_DIR:PATH=${ep_prefix}/lib/python${PYTHON_VERSION_MAJOR}.${PYTHON_VERSION_MINOR}/site-packages)
     endif()
 
     list(APPEND additional_cmake_args
          -DVTK_WRAP_PYTHON:BOOL=ON
          -DVTK_USE_TK:BOOL=OFF
          -DVTK_WINDOWS_PYTHON_DEBUGGABLE:BOOL=OFF
          -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE:FILEPATH=${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}
          -DPYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR}
          -DPYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR2:PATH=${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR2}
          -DPYTHON_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${PYTHON_LIBRARY}
          ${_vtk_install_python_dir}
         )
   else()
     list(APPEND additional_cmake_args
          -DVTK_WRAP_PYTHON:BOOL=OFF
          -DVTK_WINDOWS_PYTHON_DEBUGGABLE:BOOL=OFF
         )
   endif()
 
   if(MITK_USE_Qt5)
     list(APPEND additional_cmake_args
         -DVTK_QT_VERSION:STRING=5
         -DVTK_Group_Qt:BOOL=ON
         -DVTK_INSTALL_NO_QT_PLUGIN:BOOL=ON
      )
   endif()
 
   if(CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS)
     list(APPEND additional_cmake_args
       "-DCMAKE_PROJECT_${proj}_INCLUDE:FILEPATH=${CMAKE_ROOT}/Modules/CTestUseLaunchers.cmake"
     )
   endif()
 
-  #set(VTK_URL ${MITK_THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_PREFIX_URL}/VTK-7.0.0.tar.gz)
-  set(VTK_URL http://www.vtk.org/files/release/7.1/VTK-7.1.0.tar.gz)
-  set(VTK_URL_MD5 a7e814c1db503d896af72458c2d0228f)
-
   ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
     LIST_SEPARATOR ${sep}
-    URL ${VTK_URL}
-    URL_MD5 ${VTK_URL_MD5}
+    URL ${MITK_THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_PREFIX_URL}/VTK-8.0.0.tar.gz
+    URL_MD5 8de89b8c7a729016ab7128da5e881cf4
     PATCH_COMMAND ${PATCH_COMMAND} -N -p1 -i ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/VTK.patch
     CMAKE_GENERATOR ${gen}
     CMAKE_ARGS
         ${ep_common_args}
         -DVTK_WRAP_TCL:BOOL=OFF
         -DVTK_WRAP_PYTHON:BOOL=OFF
         -DVTK_WRAP_JAVA:BOOL=OFF
         -DVTK_USE_SYSTEM_FREETYPE:BOOL=${VTK_USE_SYSTEM_FREETYPE}
         -DVTK_LEGACY_REMOVE:BOOL=ON
         -DModule_vtkTestingRendering:BOOL=ON
         -DVTK_MAKE_INSTANTIATORS:BOOL=ON
         -DVTK_USE_CXX11_FEATURES:BOOL=ON
         -DVTK_RENDERING_BACKEND:STRING=OpenGL2
         ${additional_cmake_args}
     CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS
       ${ep_common_cache_args}
     CMAKE_CACHE_DEFAULT_ARGS
       ${ep_common_cache_default_args}
     DEPENDS ${proj_DEPENDENCIES}
   )
 
   set(VTK_DIR ${ep_prefix})
   mitkFunctionInstallExternalCMakeProject(${proj})
 
 else()
 
   mitkMacroEmptyExternalProject(${proj} "${proj_DEPENDENCIES}")
 
 endif()
diff --git a/CMakeExternals/VTK.patch b/CMakeExternals/VTK.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29bb2..0000000000