diff --git a/FileIO/RapidXmlIO/BoostVtuInterface.cpp b/FileIO/RapidXmlIO/BoostVtuInterface.cpp
index 52adc39113d3e53f147bde4bc58f7800ae55b105..182140490934b4eb54748d070bbe94f6acb232e3 100644
--- a/FileIO/RapidXmlIO/BoostVtuInterface.cpp
+++ b/FileIO/RapidXmlIO/BoostVtuInterface.cpp
@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ MeshLib::Mesh* BoostVtuInterface::readVTUFile(const std::string &file_name)
 				std::cout << "BoostVtuInterface::readVTUFile() - Unknown compression method." << std::endl;
 				return nullptr;
 			}
+
+			// TODO: remove this once compressed data can be handled!!
+			std::cout << "Handling of compressed meshes not yet implemented." << std::endl;
+			return nullptr;
 		}
 
 		//skip to <Piece>-tag and start parsing content
diff --git a/MeshLib/ElementStatus.cpp b/MeshLib/ElementStatus.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b87cf58939f73391a269c87a6a1dcdb24a106c87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MeshLib/ElementStatus.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2012, OpenGeoSys Community (http://www.opengeosys.org)
+ *            Distributed under a Modified BSD License.
+ *              See accompanying file LICENSE.txt or
+ *              http://www.opengeosys.org/project/license
+ *
+ *
+ * \file ElementStatus.cpp
+ *
+ * Created on 2012-12-18 by Karsten Rink
+ */
+
+#include "ElementStatus.h"
+
+namespace MeshLib {
+
+ElementStatus::ElementStatus(Mesh const*const mesh)
+: _mesh(mesh), _status(mesh->getNElements(), true)
+{
+}
+
+
+}
+
diff --git a/MeshLib/ElementStatus.h b/MeshLib/ElementStatus.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ad41759b0fc449b7fed524aad89dac4cc3a6acde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/MeshLib/ElementStatus.h
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2012, OpenGeoSys Community (http://www.opengeosys.org)
+ *            Distributed under a Modified BSD License.
+ *              See accompanying file LICENSE.txt or
+ *              http://www.opengeosys.org/project/license
+ *
+ *
+ * \file ElementStatus.h
+ *
+ * Created on 2012-12-18 by Karsten Rink
+ */
+
+#ifndef ELEMENTSTATUS_H_
+#define ELEMENTSTATUS_H_
+
+#include "Mesh.h"
+
+namespace MeshLib {
+	
+/**
+ * An object to store which elements of the mesh are active and which are inactive
+ */
+class ElementStatus
+{
+
+public:
+	/// Constructor using mesh
+	ElementStatus(Mesh const*const mesh);
+
+	bool getElementStatus(unsigned i) { return _status[i]; };
+	
+	bool isActive(unsigned i) { return _status[i]; };
+
+	void setActive(unsigned i) { _status[i] = true; };
+
+	void setInactive(unsigned i) { _status[i] = false; };
+
+	void setElementStatus(unsigned i, bool status) { _status[i] = status; };
+
+	~ElementStatus() {};
+
+protected:
+	Mesh const*const _mesh;
+	std::vector<bool> _status;
+
+}; /* class */
+
+} /* namespace */
+
+#endif /* ELEMENTSTATUS_H_ */
+