diff --git a/.version b/.version
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6753471
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2.0.0-SNAPSHOT
diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..219af38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+version=$(cat .version)
+
+release_version=${version%%-SNAPSHOT}
+new_version=$(echo $release_version+0.1 | bc)
+
+[[ $? -ne 0 ]] && echo 'Error exiting.' && exit 1
+
+snapshot_version=${new_version}-SNAPSHOT
+
+cat <<EOF
+
+    current version     : $version
+    release version     : $release_version
+    new snapshot version: $snapshot_version
+
+EOF
+
+git fetch
+
+echo start the release by creating a new release branch
+
+git checkout -b release/$release_version origin/develop
+echo $release_version > ./.version
+git add ./.version
+git commit -m "[release] prepare release v$release_version"
+git tag v$release_version
+echo $snapshot_version > ./.version
+git add ./.version
+git commit -m "[release] prepare for next development iteration"
+
+echo merge the version back into develop
+git checkout develop
+git merge --no-ff -m "[release] merge release/$release_version into develop" release/$release_version
+
+git checkout master
+echo merge the version back into master but use the tagged version instead of the release/$releaseVersion HEAD
+git merge --no-ff -m "[release] merge previous version into master to avoid the increased version number" release/$release_version~1
+
+echo get back on the develop branch
+git checkout develop
+echo finally push everything
+git push origin develop master
+git push --tags
+echo removing the release branch
+git branch -D release/$release_version