diff --git a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/MeshCoarsener.cpp b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/MeshCoarsener.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 270b797d6a12652cbd24da622f0141148e7d6afd..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/MeshCoarsener.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,184 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * \file
- * \author Thomas Fischer
- * \date   Aug 3, 2012
- * \brief  Implementation of the MeshCoarsener class.
- *
- * \copyright
- * Copyright (c) 2013, OpenGeoSys Community (http://www.opengeosys.org)
- *            Distributed under a Modified BSD License.
- *              See accompanying file LICENSE.txt or
- *              http://www.opengeosys.org/project/license
- *
- */
-
-// ThirdParty/logog
-#include "logog/include/logog.hpp"
-
-#include "MeshCoarsener.h"
-
-// GeoLib
-#include "Grid.h"
-
-// MeshLib
-#include "Mesh.h"
-#include "Node.h"
-#include "Elements/Element.h"
-
-namespace MeshLib {
-
-MeshCoarsener::MeshCoarsener(Mesh const*const mesh) :
-	_orig_mesh (mesh)
-{}
-
-MeshCoarsener::~MeshCoarsener()
-{}
-
-Mesh* MeshCoarsener::operator()(double min_distance)
-{
-	// copy mesh nodes, reset mesh node ids and
-	// store original mesh node ids in a vector
-	std::vector<Node*> const& orig_nodes(_orig_mesh->getNodes());
-	const size_t n_nodes(orig_nodes.size());
-	std::vector<Node*> nodes(n_nodes);
-	std::map<size_t,size_t> orig_ids_map;
-	for (size_t k(0); k < n_nodes; k++) {
-		nodes[k] = new Node(orig_nodes[k]->getCoords(), k);
-		orig_ids_map.insert(std::pair<size_t, size_t>(orig_nodes[k]->getID(), k));
-	}
-
-	// init grid
-	GeoLib::Grid<Node>* grid(new GeoLib::Grid<Node>(nodes.begin(), nodes.end(), 64));
-
-	// init id map
-	std::vector<size_t> id_map(n_nodes);
-	for (size_t k(0); k < n_nodes; k++) {
-		id_map[k] = nodes[k]->getID();
-	}
-
-	const double sqr_min_distance (min_distance * min_distance);
-
-	// do the work - search nearest nodes
-	for (size_t k(0); k < n_nodes; k++) {
-		std::vector<std::vector<Node*> const*> node_vecs_intersecting_cube;
-		Node const*const node(nodes[k]);
-		const size_t node_id_k(node->getID());
-		grid->getPntVecsOfGridCellsIntersectingCube(node->getCoords(), min_distance, node_vecs_intersecting_cube);
-
-		const size_t n_vecs (node_vecs_intersecting_cube.size());
-		for (size_t i(0); i<n_vecs; i++) {
-			std::vector<Node*> const* node_vec (node_vecs_intersecting_cube[i]);
-			const size_t n_loc_nodes (node_vec->size());
-			for (size_t j(0); j<n_loc_nodes; j++) {
-				Node const*const test_node((*node_vec)[j]);
-				const size_t test_node_id (test_node->getID());
-				if (node_id_k < test_node_id) {
-					if (MathLib::sqrDist(node->getCoords(), test_node->getCoords()) < sqr_min_distance) {
-						// two nodes are very close to each other
-						id_map[test_node_id] = node_id_k;
-#ifndef NDEBUG
-						INFO("distance of nodes with ids %d and %d is %f", node_id_k, test_node_id, sqrt(MathLib::sqrDist(node->getCoords(), test_node->getCoords())));
-#endif
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	// apply changes to id_map
-	for (size_t k(0), cnt(0); k < n_nodes; k++) {
-		if (id_map[k] != k) {
-			if (id_map[k] != id_map[id_map[k]]) {
-				id_map[k] = id_map[id_map[k]];
-			}
-		} else {
-			id_map[k] = cnt++;
-		}
-	}
-
-	// delete unused nodes
-	for (size_t k(0), cnt(0); k < n_nodes; k++) {
-		if (id_map[k] != cnt) {
-			delete nodes[k];
-			nodes[k] = NULL;
-		} else {
-			cnt++;
-		}
-	}
-
-	// remove NULL-ptr from node vector
-	for (std::vector<Node*>::iterator it(nodes.begin()); it != nodes.end(); ) {
-		if (*it == NULL) {
-			it = nodes.erase (it);
-		} else {
-			it++;
-		}
-	}
-
-	// reset mesh node ids
-	const size_t new_n_nodes(nodes.size());
-	for (size_t k(0); k < new_n_nodes; k++) {
-		nodes[k]->setID(k);
-	}
-
-	// copy mesh elements, reset the node pointers
-	std::vector<Element*> const& orig_elements(_orig_mesh->getElements());
-	const size_t n_elements(orig_elements.size());
-	std::vector<Element*> elements(n_elements);
-	std::vector<size_t> mapped_node_ids_of_element;
-	for (size_t k(0), cnt(0); k < n_elements; k++) {
-		Element const*const kth_orig_elem(orig_elements[k]);
-		const size_t n_nodes_element (kth_orig_elem->getNNodes());
-		mapped_node_ids_of_element.clear();
-		for (size_t i(0); i<n_nodes_element; i++) {
-			const size_t orig_node_id (kth_orig_elem->getNode(i)->getID());
-			std::map<size_t, size_t>::const_iterator it(orig_ids_map.find(orig_node_id));
-			if (it == orig_ids_map.end()) {
-				ERR("[MeshCoarsener::operator()] could not found mesh node id.");
-			} else {
-				mapped_node_ids_of_element.push_back(id_map[it->second]);
-			}
-		}
-
-		// check if nodes of the element are collapsed
-		bool not_collapsed (true);
-		for (size_t i(0); i<n_nodes_element-1 && not_collapsed; i++) {
-			const size_t id_i(mapped_node_ids_of_element[i]);
-			for (size_t j(i+1); j<n_nodes_element && not_collapsed; j++) {
-				if (id_i == mapped_node_ids_of_element[j]) {
-					not_collapsed = false;
-				}
-			}
-		}
-		if (! not_collapsed) {
-			Element* elem (kth_orig_elem->clone());
-			if (elem != NULL) {
-				for (size_t i(0); i<n_nodes_element; i++) {
-					elem->setNode(i, nodes[mapped_node_ids_of_element[i]]);
-				}
-				Element* revised_elem(elem->reviseElement());
-				elements[cnt] = revised_elem;
-				delete elem;
-				cnt++;
-			}
-		} else {
-			elements[cnt] = kth_orig_elem->clone();
-			for (size_t i(0); i<n_nodes_element; i++) {
-				elements[cnt]->setNode(i, nodes[mapped_node_ids_of_element[i]]);
-			}
-			cnt++;
-		}
-	}
-
-	for (std::vector<Element*>::iterator it(elements.begin()); it != elements.end(); ) {
-		if (*it == NULL) {
-			it = elements.erase(it);
-		} else {
-			it++;
-		}
-	}
-
-	return new Mesh (_orig_mesh->getName() + "Collapsed", nodes, elements);
-}
-
-} // end namespace MeshLib
diff --git a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/MeshCoarsener.h b/MeshLib/MeshEditing/MeshCoarsener.h
deleted file mode 100644
index d9149561e5c76d9fc10f10c40c355c45a9144ca2..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/MeshLib/MeshEditing/MeshCoarsener.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,57 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * \file
- * \author Thomas Fischer
- * \date   Aug 3, 2012
- * \brief  Definition of the MeshCoarsener class.
- *
- * \copyright
- * Copyright (c) 2013, OpenGeoSys Community (http://www.opengeosys.org)
- *            Distributed under a Modified BSD License.
- *              See accompanying file LICENSE.txt or
- *              http://www.opengeosys.org/project/license
- *
- */
-
-#ifndef MESHCOARSENER_H_
-#define MESHCOARSENER_H_
-
-#include <vector>
-#include <cstddef>
-
-// forward declaration
-namespace MeshLib {
-class Mesh;
-}
-
-namespace MeshLib {
-
-/**
- * The class MeshCoarsener merges mesh nodes that have a smaller
- * distance than a (user) given minimal distance.
- */
-class MeshCoarsener {
-public:
-	/**
-	 * Constructor of class MeshCoarsener that takes the mesh object that should be coarsened.
-	 * @param mesh the mesh object
-	 */
-	MeshCoarsener(Mesh const*const mesh);
-
-	/**
-	 * destructor.
-	 */
-	virtual ~MeshCoarsener();
-
-	/**
-	 * create new mesh and apply the coarsening process to the mesh
-	 * @param min_distance
-	 */
-	Mesh* operator() (double min_distance);
-
-private:
-	Mesh const*const _orig_mesh;
-};
-
-}
-
-#endif /* MESHCOARSENER_H_ */
diff --git a/MeshLib/Node.h b/MeshLib/Node.h
index f98638815992a60d4cd4d547a7bef05555a92593..e6000a6cd5d1e06584a308f48b60168c2a6e40c7 100644
--- a/MeshLib/Node.h
+++ b/MeshLib/Node.h
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ class Node : public GeoLib::PointWithID
 #endif
 	/* friend classes: */
 	friend class Mesh;
-	friend class MeshCoarsener;
 	friend class MeshRevision;
 
 
diff --git a/SimpleTests/MeshTests/CMakeLists.txt b/SimpleTests/MeshTests/CMakeLists.txt
index 3f0f8109c52038f468c0deec6910bce7ba56b0c8..8c1ba689ac823883b83b312a6dda5426fba85c52 100644
--- a/SimpleTests/MeshTests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/SimpleTests/MeshTests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,23 +30,6 @@ TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES ( MeshRead
 	${BOOST_LIBRARIES}
 )
 
-# Create CollapseMeshNodes executable
-ADD_EXECUTABLE( CollapseMeshNodes
-	CollapseMeshNodes.cpp
-	${SOURCES}
-	${HEADERS}
-)
-
-TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES ( CollapseMeshNodes
-	MeshLib
-	FileIO
-	MathLib
-	BaseLib
-	GeoLib
-	logog
-	${BOOST_LIBRARIES}
-)
-
 # Create MeshSearchTest executable
 ADD_EXECUTABLE( MeshSearchTest
 	MeshSearchTest.cpp
diff --git a/SimpleTests/MeshTests/CollapseMeshNodes.cpp b/SimpleTests/MeshTests/CollapseMeshNodes.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index f3db23d8088601904b6092cfd0284708ba8c8eb2..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/SimpleTests/MeshTests/CollapseMeshNodes.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,104 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright (c) 2013, OpenGeoSys Community (http://www.opengeosys.org)
- *            Distributed under a Modified BSD License.
- *              See accompanying file LICENSE.txt or
- *              http://www.opengeosys.org/LICENSE.txt
- *
- * \file CollapseMeshNodes.cpp
- *
- *  Created on  Jul 31, 2012 by Thomas Fischer
- */
-
-// BaseLib
-#include "MemWatch.h"
-#include "RunTime.h"
-#include "tclap/CmdLine.h"
-#include "LogogSimpleFormatter.h"
-
-// ThirdParty/logog
-#include "logog/include/logog.hpp"
-
-// MeshLib
-#include "Node.h"
-#include "Elements/Element.h"
-#include "Mesh.h"
-#include "Legacy/MeshIO.h"
-#include "MeshEditing/MeshCoarsener.h"
-
-int main(int argc, char *argv[])
-{
-	LOGOG_INITIALIZE();
-	BaseLib::LogogSimpleFormatter *custom_format (new BaseLib::LogogSimpleFormatter);
-	logog::Cout *logogCout(new logog::Cout);
-	logogCout->SetFormatter(*custom_format);
-
-	TCLAP::CmdLine cmd("Collapse mesh nodes and, if necessary, remove elements", ' ', "0.1");
-
-	// Define a value argument and add it to the command line.
-	// A value arg defines a flag and a type of value that it expects,
-	// such as "-m meshfile".
-	TCLAP::ValueArg<std::string> input_mesh_arg("m","mesh","input mesh file name",true,"","string");
-	// Add the argument mesh_arg to the CmdLine object. The CmdLine object
-	// uses this Arg to parse the command line.
-	cmd.add( input_mesh_arg );
-
-	TCLAP::ValueArg<std::string> output_mesh_arg("","out-mesh","mesh file name for output",false,"","string");
-	cmd.add( output_mesh_arg );
-
-	TCLAP::ValueArg<double> distance_arg("d","collapse-distance","maximal distance two nodes are collapsed",false,0.01,"for example you can set this parameter to 10^{-6} times maximal area length");
-	cmd.add( distance_arg );
-
-	cmd.parse( argc, argv );
-
-	std::string fname (input_mesh_arg.getValue());
-
-	FileIO::Legacy::MeshIO mesh_io;
-#ifndef WIN32
-	BaseLib::MemWatch mem_watch;
-	unsigned long mem_without_mesh (mem_watch.getVirtMemUsage());
-	BaseLib::RunTime run_time;
-	run_time.start();
-#endif
-	MeshLib::Mesh* mesh = mesh_io.loadMeshFromFile(fname);
-#ifndef WIN32
-	if (mesh) {
-		unsigned long mem_with_mesh (mem_watch.getVirtMemUsage());
-		INFO ("mem for mesh: %i MB", (mem_with_mesh - mem_without_mesh)/(1024*1024));
-	}
-	run_time.stop();
-	if (mesh) {
-		INFO ("time for reading: %f s", run_time.elapsed());
-	}
-#endif
-
-#ifndef WIN32
-	unsigned long mem_without_meshgrid (mem_watch.getVirtMemUsage());
-	run_time.start();
-#endif
-	MeshLib::MeshCoarsener mesh_coarsener(mesh);
-	MeshLib::Mesh *collapsed_mesh(mesh_coarsener (distance_arg.getValue()));
-
-#ifndef WIN32
-	run_time.stop();
-	unsigned long mem_with_meshgrid (mem_watch.getVirtMemUsage());
-	INFO ("mem for meshgrid: %i MB", (mem_with_meshgrid - mem_without_meshgrid)/(1024*1024));
-	INFO ("time for collapsing: %f s", run_time.elapsed());
-#endif
-
-	mesh_io.setMesh(collapsed_mesh);
-	std::string out_fname (output_mesh_arg.getValue());
-	if (out_fname.empty()) {
-		out_fname = "/home/fischeth/workspace/OGS-6/Build/CollapsedMesh.msh";
-	}
-	INFO ("writing collapsed mesh to %s", out_fname.c_str());
-	mesh_io.writeToFile(out_fname);
-	INFO ("done");
-
-	delete mesh;
-	delete collapsed_mesh;
-	delete custom_format;
-	delete logogCout;
-	LOGOG_SHUTDOWN();
-
-	return 0;
-}