diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 12c232edbb0cd352effc603015301f27faf3f137..6d3b529a69107060bb13a2285a3f0a2ab86f7d55 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,9 +26,12 @@ option(DD4HEP_USE_CXX11   "Build DD4hep using c++11" OFF)
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #
 #  project version (Major,minor,patch)
-#  Use the same version numbers in DDSegmentaion/CmakeLists.txt
+#  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+#  !! Use the same version numbers in DDSegmentaion/CmakeLists.txt     !!
+#  !! and make also sure to change in ./DDCore/include/DD4hep/LCDD.h   !!
+#  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 #
-dd4hep_set_version(DD4hep MAJOR 0 MINOR 14 PATCH 0)
+dd4hep_set_version(DD4hep MAJOR 0 MINOR 15 PATCH 0)
 dd4hep_configure_output( OUTPUT "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}" INSTALL "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}" )
 #
 #
diff --git a/DDCore/include/DD4hep/LCDD.h b/DDCore/include/DD4hep/LCDD.h
index e9ff0719191d18bb07efad68e44a120d145e8d25..0c8978647ffe0650ff561034bd8c6d620d13db99 100644
--- a/DDCore/include/DD4hep/LCDD.h
+++ b/DDCore/include/DD4hep/LCDD.h
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@
 #ifndef DD4HEP_LCDD_LCDD_H
 #define DD4HEP_LCDD_LCDD_H
 
+// define version macros for DD4hep
+#define DD4HEP_MAJOR_VERSION 0
+#define DD4HEP_MINOR_VERSION 15
+
+#define DD4HEP_VERSION_GE( MAJV , MINV )  ( (  DD4HEP_MAJOR_VERSION  > MAJV ) || ( (DD4HEP_MAJOR_VERSION==MAJV) && ( DD4HEP_MINOR_VERSION >= MINV ) ) )
+
+#define DD4HEP_VERSION_GT( MAJV , MINV )  ( (  DD4HEP_MAJOR_VERSION  > MAJV ) || ( (DD4HEP_MAJOR_VERSION==MAJV) && ( DD4HEP_MINOR_VERSION >  MINV ) ) )
+
+
 // Framework includes
 #include "DD4hep/Handle.h"
 #include "DD4hep/Fields.h"
diff --git a/DDSegmentation/CMakeLists.txt b/DDSegmentation/CMakeLists.txt
index 70e5363cc35c21ffab96237aa6cada0fbeb16d63..073426f5a991f9864dd7096e269778860cfd4ed4 100644
--- a/DDSegmentation/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/DDSegmentation/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3 FATAL_ERROR)
 project(DDSegmentation)
  #fg: version number must be the same as DD4hep !!
 set(DDSegmentation_MAJOR_VERSION 0)
-set(DDSegmentation_MINOR_VERSION 14)
+set(DDSegmentation_MINOR_VERSION 15)
 set(DDSegmentation_PATCH_VERSION 0)
 set(DDSegmentation_VERSION "${DDSegmentation_MAJOR_VERSION}.${DDSegmentation_MINOR_VERSION}" )
 set(DDSegmentation_SOVERSION "${DDSegmentation_MAJOR_VERSION}.${DDSegmentation_MINOR_VERSION}")
diff --git a/doc/release.notes b/doc/release.notes
index a8f639f051e93afa3727d665163fe0f027220605..fb36c28c65cb4c89bb3716308b58f8a0308c6df2 100644
--- a/doc/release.notes
+++ b/doc/release.notes
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@
 DD4hep  ----  Release Notes
 =================================
 
+
+2015-08-27 F.Gaede
+  - added macros DD4HEP_VERSION_GE(MAJV,MINV) and DD4HEP_VERSION_GT(MAJV,MINV)
+    to LCDD.h
+
+  - increased version number to v00-15
+
+
 2015-08-20 M.Frank
   - DDCore: Modularize/abstract plugin manager 
   - VolumeManager: Fix bug propagating sensitive detectors