--- a/src/java/de/intevation/mxd/reader/MapReader.java	Mon Sep 17 17:10:44 2012 +0200
+++ b/src/java/de/intevation/mxd/reader/MapReader.java	Thu Sep 20 12:55:21 2012 +0200
@@ -206,6 +206,14 @@
                 " Setting map projection to unknown.");
             mapElement.setAttribute("projection", "Unknown");
         }
+
+        // read the reference scale
+        try {
+            mapElement.setAttribute("referencescale", String.valueOf(
+                        map.getReferenceScale()));
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            logger.warn("Could not read referencescale of map");
+        }
     }
 
     /**