diff --git a/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.cpp b/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.cpp
index 82f4a7863b373407973b4b1262cce871dff30181..ede09883d0df0112d134cd8065b146fb8cc2a3d3 100644
--- a/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.cpp
+++ b/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.cpp
@@ -20,11 +20,14 @@
 
 #include "GeoLib/PointWithID.h"
 
-#include "Mesh.h"
-#include "Elements/Face.h"
-#include "Elements/Cell.h"
-#include "Elements/Tri.h"
-#include "Elements/Quad.h"
+#include "MeshLib/Mesh.h"
+#include "MeshLib/Elements/Line.h"
+#include "MeshLib/Elements/Face.h"
+#include "MeshLib/Elements/Cell.h"
+#include "MeshLib/Elements/Tri.h"
+#include "MeshLib/Elements/Quad.h"
+#include "MeshLib/MeshEditing/DuplicateMeshComponents.h"
+#include "MeshLib/MeshQuality/MeshValidation.h"
 
 namespace MeshLib {
 
@@ -118,6 +121,40 @@ MeshLib::Mesh* MeshSurfaceExtraction::getMeshSurface(const MeshLib::Mesh &mesh,
 	return result;
 }
 
+MeshLib::Mesh* MeshSurfaceExtraction::getMeshBoundary(const MeshLib::Mesh &mesh)
+{
+	if (mesh.getDimension()==1)
+		return nullptr;
+
+	// For 3D meshes return the 2D surface
+	if (mesh.getDimension()==3)
+	{
+		MathLib::Vector3 dir(0,0,0);
+		return getMeshSurface(mesh, dir, 90);
+	}
+
+	// For 2D meshes return the boundary lines
+	std::vector<MeshLib::Node*> nodes = MeshLib::copyNodeVector(mesh.getNodes());
+	std::vector<MeshLib::Element*> boundary_elements;
+
+	std::vector<MeshLib::Element*> const& org_elems (mesh.getElements());
+	for (auto it=org_elems.begin(); it!=org_elems.end(); ++it)
+	{
+		MeshLib::Element* elem (*it);
+		std::size_t const n_edges (elem->getNEdges());
+		for (std::size_t i=0; i<n_edges; ++i)
+			if (elem->getNeighbor(i) == nullptr)
+			{
+				MeshLib::Element const*const edge (elem->getEdge(i));
+				boundary_elements.push_back(MeshLib::copyElement(edge, nodes));
+				delete edge;
+			}
+	}
+	MeshLib::Mesh* result = new MeshLib::Mesh("Boundary Mesh", nodes, boundary_elements);
+	MeshLib::MeshValidation::removeUnusedMeshNodes(*result);
+	return result;
+}
+
 void MeshSurfaceExtraction::get2DSurfaceElements(const std::vector<MeshLib::Element*> &all_elements, std::vector<MeshLib::Element*> &sfc_elements, const MathLib::Vector3 &dir, double angle, unsigned mesh_dimension)
 {
 	if (mesh_dimension<2 || mesh_dimension>3)
diff --git a/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.h b/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.h
index fd58ff99a6738951d658f7212afb5ea9a24eecd6..2c0c3f9fee73e60a7eb2621e1260e3b4b38ea791 100644
--- a/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.h
+++ b/MeshLib/MeshSurfaceExtraction.h
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@ public:
 	/// Returns a vector of the areas assigned to each node on a surface mesh.
 	static std::vector<double> getSurfaceAreaForNodes(const MeshLib::Mesh &mesh);
 
-	/// Returns the surface nodes of a layered mesh.
+	/// Returns the surface nodes of a mesh.
 	static std::vector<GeoLib::PointWithID*> getSurfaceNodes(const MeshLib::Mesh &mesh, const MathLib::Vector3 &dir, double angle);
 
 	/**
-	 * Returns the 2d-element mesh representing the surface of the given layered mesh.
+	 * Returns the 2d-element mesh representing the surface of the given mesh.
 	 * \param mesh                The original mesh
 	 * \param dir                 The direction in which face normals have to point to be considered surface elements
 	 * \param angle               The angle of the allowed deviation from the given direction (0 <= angle <= 90 degrees)
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ public:
 	 */
 	static MeshLib::Mesh* getMeshSurface(const MeshLib::Mesh &mesh, const MathLib::Vector3 &dir, double angle, bool keepOriginalNodeIds = false);
 
+	static MeshLib::Mesh* getMeshBoundary(const MeshLib::Mesh &mesh);
+
 private:
 	/// Functionality needed for getSurfaceNodes() and getMeshSurface()
 	static void get2DSurfaceElements(const std::vector<MeshLib::Element*> &all_elements, std::vector<MeshLib::Element*> &sfc_elements, const MathLib::Vector3 &dir, double angle, unsigned mesh_dimension);