diff --git a/dune/gfe/realtuple.hh b/dune/gfe/realtuple.hh
index 5990be1b072b717afd0c87c53f8d553b189df67e..c1bcb1800c8a769f16a64b1db1c773c507a032b0 100644
--- a/dune/gfe/realtuple.hh
+++ b/dune/gfe/realtuple.hh
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ public:
     /** \brief Global coordinates wrt an isometric embedding function are available */
     static const bool globalIsometricCoordinates = true;
 
+    /** \brief Dimension of the manifold formed by unit vectors */
+    static const int dim = N;
+
     typedef Dune::FieldVector<double,N> EmbeddedTangentVector;
 
     typedef Dune::FieldVector<double,N> TangentVector;