diff --git a/Core/Code/Common/mitkExceptionMacro.h b/Core/Code/Common/mitkExceptionMacro.h
index 6b5ae9cc39..c3949776dc 100644
--- a/Core/Code/Common/mitkExceptionMacro.h
+++ b/Core/Code/Common/mitkExceptionMacro.h
@@ -1,81 +1,96 @@
 /*===================================================================
 
 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_EXCEPTIONMACRO_H_DEFINED
 #define MITK_EXCEPTIONMACRO_H_DEFINED
 
 
 #include <itkMacro.h>
 #include <mitkLogMacros.h>
 #include <sstream>
 #include "mitkException.h"
 
-/** The exception macro is used to print error information / throw an exception 
+/** The exception macro is used to throw an exception 
  *  (i.e., usually a condition that results in program failure). 
  *
  *  Example usage looks like:
  *  mitkThrow() << "this is error info";
  */
 #define mitkThrow() throw mitk::Exception(__FILE__,__LINE__,"",ITK_LOCATION)
 
-//TODO implement and document
-//#define mitkReThrow(mitkexception) \
-//    throw mitkexception
-    
-
-/** The specialized exception macro is used to print error information / throw exceptions 
+/** The rethrow macro is used to rethrow an existing exception. The
+  * rethrow information (file,line of code) is then additionally stored
+  * in the exception. To check if an exception was rethrown you can use
+  * the methods GetNumberOfRethrows() and GetRethrowData().
+  *
+  * Example usage:
+  * try
+  *   {
+  *   //some code that throws an exception
+  *   }
+  * catch(mitk::Exception e)
+  *   {
+  *   //here we want to rethrow the exception
+  *   mitkmitkReThrow(e) << "Message that will be appended to the exception (optional)";
+  *   }
+  */
+#define mitkReThrow(mitkexception) \
+    mitkexception.AddRethrowData(__FILE__,__LINE__,"Rethrow by mitkReThrow macro.");\
+    throw mitkexception
+ 
+/** The specialized exception macro is used to throw exceptions 
   * in cases of specialized errors. This means the second parameter must be a class which 
   * inherits from mitk::Exception. An object of this exception is thrown when using the macro.
   * Thus, more differentiated excaptions can be thrown, when needed.
   *
   * Example usage:
   * mitkSpecializedExceptionMacro(mitk::MySpecializedException) << "this is error info"; 
   */
 #define mitkThrowException(classname) throw classname(__FILE__,__LINE__,"",ITK_LOCATION)
 
 /** Class macro for MITK exception classes.
   * All MITK exception classes should derive from MITK::Exception.
   */
 #define mitkExceptionClassMacro(ClassName,SuperClassName) \
     ClassName(const char *file, unsigned int lineNumber, const char *desc, const char *loc) :\
     SuperClassName(file,lineNumber,desc,loc){}\
     itkTypeMacro(ClassName, SuperClassName);\
     /** \brief Definition of the bit shift operator for this class. It can be used to add messages.*/\
     template <class T> inline ClassName& operator<<(const T& data)\
     {\
       std::stringstream ss;\
       ss << this->GetDescription() << data;\
       this->SetDescription(ss.str());\
       return *this;\
     }\
     /** \brief Definition of the bit shift operator for this class (for non const data).*/\
     template <class T> inline ClassName& operator<<(T& data)\
     {\
       std::stringstream ss;\
       ss << this->GetDescription() << data;\
       this->SetDescription(ss.str());\
       return *this;\
     }\
     /** \brief Definition of the bit shift operator for this class (for functions).*/\
     inline ClassName& operator<<(std::ostream& (*func)(std::ostream&))\
     {\
       std::stringstream ss;\
       ss << this->GetDescription() << func;\
       this->SetDescription(ss.str());\
       return *this;\
     }\
 
 #endif