--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/main/java/de/mpiwg/gazetteer/utils/HibernateUtil.java	Thu Apr 23 15:46:01 2015 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package de.mpiwg.gazetteer.utils;
+
+import org.hibernate.SessionFactory;
+import org.hibernate.cfg.AnnotationConfiguration;
+
+
+public class HibernateUtil {
+
+    private static final SessionFactory sessionFactory;
+
+    static {
+        try {
+            // Create the SessionFactory from hibernate.cfg.xml
+        	AnnotationConfiguration cfg = new AnnotationConfiguration().configure("hibernate.cfg.xml");
+            if(System.getProperty("hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto") != null && System.getProperty("hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto").equals("create")){
+            	cfg.setProperty("hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto", "create");
+            }
+            sessionFactory = cfg.buildSessionFactory();
+        } catch (Throwable ex) {
+            // Make sure you log the exception, as it might be swallowed
+            System.err.println("Initial SessionFactory creation failed." + ex);
+            ex.printStackTrace();
+            throw new ExceptionInInitializerError(ex);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static SessionFactory getSessionFactory() {
+        return sessionFactory;
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file