diff --git a/simgear/structure/intern.hxx b/simgear/structure/intern.hxx
index 5a1c0e47..3d3e1ef9 100644
--- a/simgear/structure/intern.hxx
+++ b/simgear/structure/intern.hxx
@@ -3,12 +3,33 @@
 
 #include <string>
 
+#include <typeinfo>
+#if __linux__
+#include <cxxabi.h>
+#endif
+
 namespace simgear
 {
+
+/* return the template name as a string */
+template <typename T>
+std::string getTypeName(void)
+{
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  std::string name = typeid(T).name();
+#else // __linux__
+  int error = 0;
+  char *type = abi::__cxa_demangle(typeid(T).name(), 0, 0, &error);
+  std::string name = type;
+  free(type);
+#endif
+
+  return name;
+}
+
 /**
  * Return a pointer to a single string object for a given string.
  */
-
 const std::string* intern(const std::string& str);
 }
 #endif