diff --git a/Modules/IGTBase/files.cmake b/Modules/IGTBase/files.cmake
index 9acce817e6..f1174a0934 100644
--- a/Modules/IGTBase/files.cmake
+++ b/Modules/IGTBase/files.cmake
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 set(CPP_FILES
  mitkRealTimeClock.cpp
+ mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.cpp
 )
 
 if(WIN32)
   set(CPP_FILES ${CPP_FILES} mitkWindowsRealTimeClock.cpp)
 else()
   set(CPP_FILES ${CPP_FILES} mitkLinuxRealTimeClock.cpp)
 endif(WIN32)
diff --git a/Modules/IGTBase/mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.cpp b/Modules/IGTBase/mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..232b0b7ae3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Modules/IGTBase/mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*===================================================================
+
+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 <mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.h>
+
+
+double StaticIGTHelperFunctions::GetAngleBetweenTwoQuaterions(mitk::Quaternion a, mitk::Quaternion b, itk::Vector<double,3> rotationVector)
+  {
+  double returnValue;
+
+  itk::Vector<double,3> point; //caution 5D-Tools: correct verctor along the tool axis is needed
+  point[0] = rotationVector[0];
+  point[1] = rotationVector[1];
+  point[2] = rotationVector[2];
+
+  //Quaternions used for rotations should alway be normalized, so just to be safe:
+  a.normalize();
+  b.normalize();
+
+  itk::Matrix<double,3,3> rotMatrixA;
+  for(int i=0; i<3; i++) for(int j=0; j<3; j++) rotMatrixA[i][j] = a.rotation_matrix_transpose().transpose()[i][j];
+
+  itk::Matrix<double,3,3> rotMatrixB;
+  for(int i=0; i<3; i++) for(int j=0; j<3; j++) rotMatrixB[i][j] = b.rotation_matrix_transpose().transpose()[i][j];
+
+  itk::Vector<double,3> pt1 = rotMatrixA * point;
+  itk::Vector<double,3> pt2 = rotMatrixB * point;
+
+  returnValue = (pt1[0]*pt2[0]+pt1[1]*pt2[1]+pt1[2]*pt2[2]) / ( sqrt(pow(pt1[0],2.0)+pow(pt1[1],2.0)+pow(pt1[2],2.0)) * sqrt(pow(pt2[0],2.0)+pow(pt2[1],2.0)+pow(pt2[2],2.0)));
+  returnValue = acos(returnValue) * 57,296; //57,296 = 180/Pi ; conversion to degrees
+
+  return returnValue;
+  }
+
+itk::Matrix<double,3,3> StaticIGTHelperFunctions::ConvertEulerAnglesToRotationMatrix(double alpha, double beta, double gamma)
+{
+    double PI = 3.141592653589793;
+    alpha = alpha * PI / 180;
+    beta = beta * PI / 180;
+    gamma = gamma * PI / 180;
+
+    //convert angles to matrix:
+    itk::Matrix<double,3,3> matrix;
+
+    /* x-Konvention (Z, X, Z)
+    matrix[0][0] = cos(alpha) * cos(gamma) - sin(alpha) * cos(beta) * sin(gamma);
+    matrix[0][1] = -cos(alpha) * sin(gamma)- sin(alpha) * cos(beta) * cos(gamma);
+    matrix[0][2] = sin(alpha) * sin(beta);
+
+    matrix[1][0] = sin(alpha) * cos(gamma) + cos(alpha) * cos(beta) * sin(gamma);
+    matrix[1][1] = cos(alpha) * cos(beta) * cos(gamma) - sin(alpha) * sin(gamma);
+    matrix[1][2] = -cos(alpha) * sin(beta);
+
+    matrix[2][0] = sin(beta) * sin(gamma);
+    matrix[2][1] = sin(beta) * cos(gamma);
+    matrix[2][2] = cos(beta);
+    */
+
+    //Luftfahrtnorm (DIN 9300) (Yaw-Pitch-Roll, Z, Y, X)
+    matrix[0][0] = cos(beta) * cos(alpha);
+    matrix[0][1] = cos(beta) * sin(alpha);
+    matrix[0][2] = -sin(beta);
+
+    matrix[1][0] = sin(gamma) * sin(beta) * cos(alpha) - cos(gamma) * sin(alpha) ;
+    matrix[1][1] = sin(gamma) * sin(beta) * sin(alpha) + cos(gamma) * cos(alpha);
+    matrix[1][2] = sin(gamma) * cos(beta);
+
+    matrix[2][0] = cos(gamma) * sin(beta) * cos(alpha) + sin(gamma) * sin(alpha);
+    matrix[2][1] = cos(gamma) * sin(beta) * sin(alpha) - sin(gamma) * cos(alpha);
+    matrix[2][2] = cos(gamma) * cos(beta);
+
+    return matrix;
+}
diff --git a/Modules/IGTBase/mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.h b/Modules/IGTBase/mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..11b8a9facf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Modules/IGTBase/mitkStaticIGTHelperFunctions.h
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*===================================================================
+
+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 <mitkCommon.h>
+namespace mitk {
+  class MitkIGTBase_EXPORT StaticIGTHelperFunctions
+  {
+  public:
+  /** Computes the angle in the plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the two quaterions.
+   *  Therefore, a vector is rotated with the difference of both rotations and the angle is computed.
+   *  In some cases you might want to defice this vector e.g., if working with 5D tools. By default
+   *  the vector is defined along the Z-axis which works for Aurora 5D tools.
+   *  @return Returns the angle in degrees.
+   **/
+  double GetAngleBetweenTwoQuaterions(mitk::Quaternion a, mitk::Quaternion b, itk::Vector<double,3> rotationVector = {0,0,1000});
+
+  /** Converts euler angles (in degrees) to a rotation matrix. */
+  itk::Matrix<double,3,3> ConvertEulerAnglesToRotationMatrix(double alpha, double beta, double gamma);
+
+  };
+}