diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..15c7af78fb18fcab701883e1756ef7c488c14ea3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+.classpath
+/.project
+/.settings
+*/target
+*.sw?
+*/.classpath
+*/.project
+*/.settings/*
+*/.settings/org.eclipse.core.resources.prefs
+*/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component
+*/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.project.facet.core.xml
+*/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
+*/.settings/org.eclipse.m2e.core.prefs
+*/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.jsdt.ui.*
+*/.settings/org.sonarlint.*
+*/.settings/.jsdtscope
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/INSTALL.README b/INSTALL.README
index c420eb9203bae3c58937ebe7b81c961b164d8907..e8250f3bcbe03dac090d4c257b7c92086576a6ca 100644
--- a/INSTALL.README
+++ b/INSTALL.README
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Please refer to the HTML documentation available at http://www.openolat.org
 
 2. Licensing
 ----------------------
-With regard to licensing and copyright please refer to the file LICENSE.TXT and NOTICE.TXT
+With regard to licensing and copyright please refer to the file LICENSE and NOTICE.TXT
 
 
 3. Contact information
diff --git a/LICENSE.TXT b/LICENSE
similarity index 100%
rename from LICENSE.TXT
rename to LICENSE
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ff8804e225f45ec78f124087355516b44d62c7bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# OpenOLAT
+
+<a href="https://www.openolat.org"><img src="src/main/webapp/static/images/openolat/openolat_logo_72.png" align="left" hspace="10" vspace="6"></a>
+
+ **OpenOLAT** is a web-based e-learning platform for teaching, learning, assessment and communication, an LMS, a learning management system. OpenOLAT impresses with its simple and intuitive operation.
+
+A sophisticated modular toolkit provides course authors with a wide range of didactic possibilities. Each OpenOLAT installation can be individually extended, adapted to organizational needs, and integrated into existing IT infrastructures. The architecture is designed for minimal resource consumption, scalability and security in order to guarantee high system reliability.
+
+[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202.0-blue.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0)