diff --git a/vtm-playground/src/org/oscim/test/MarkerLayerLabelsTest.java b/vtm-playground/src/org/oscim/test/MarkerLayerLabelsTest.java
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/vtm-playground/src/org/oscim/test/MarkerLayerLabelsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-2018 devemux86
+ * Copyright 2019 telemaxx
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+ * terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software
+ * Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+ * WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
+ * PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with
+ * this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+package org.oscim.test;
+
+import org.oscim.backend.CanvasAdapter;
+import org.oscim.backend.canvas.Bitmap;
+import org.oscim.backend.canvas.Paint;
+import org.oscim.core.GeoPoint;
+import org.oscim.event.Gesture;
+import org.oscim.event.GestureListener;
+import org.oscim.event.MotionEvent;
+import org.oscim.gdx.GdxMapApp;
+import org.oscim.layers.Layer;
+import org.oscim.layers.marker.ItemizedLayer;
+import org.oscim.layers.marker.MarkerItem;
+import org.oscim.layers.marker.MarkerSymbol;
+import org.oscim.layers.tile.vector.VectorTileLayer;
+import org.oscim.layers.tile.vector.labeling.LabelLayer;
+import org.oscim.map.Map;
+import org.oscim.theme.VtmThemes;
+import org.oscim.tiling.TileSource;
+import org.oscim.tiling.source.OkHttpEngine;
+import org.oscim.tiling.source.oscimap4.OSciMap4TileSource;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.oscim.layers.marker.MarkerSymbol.HotspotPlace;
+
+public class MarkerLayerLabelsTest extends GdxMapApp implements ItemizedLayer.OnItemGestureListener<MarkerItem> {
+
+    private static final int FG_COLOR = 0xFF000000; // 100 percent black. AARRGGBB
+    private static final int BG_COLOR = 0x80FF69B4; // 50 percent pink. AARRGGBB
+
+    @Override
+    public void createLayers() {
+        try {
+            // Map events receiver
+            mMap.layers().add(new MapEventsReceiver(mMap));
+
+            TileSource tileSource = OSciMap4TileSource.builder()
+                    .httpFactory(new OkHttpEngine.OkHttpFactory())
+                    .build();
+            VectorTileLayer l = mMap.setBaseMap(tileSource);
+
+            mMap.layers().add(new LabelLayer(mMap, l));
+
+            mMap.setTheme(VtmThemes.DEFAULT);
+
+            // goto berlin
+            mMap.setMapPosition(52.513452, 13.363791, 1 << 13);
+
+            // pink dot
+            Bitmap bitmapPoi;
+            String markerRecource = "/res/marker_poi.png";
+            if (getClass().getResourceAsStream(markerRecource) != null)
+                bitmapPoi = CanvasAdapter.decodeBitmap(getClass().getResourceAsStream(markerRecource));
+            else {
+                int DefaultIconSize = 10;
+
+                final Paint fillPainter = CanvasAdapter.newPaint();
+                fillPainter.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
+                fillPainter.setColor(0xFFFF69B4); // 100percent pink
+
+                bitmapPoi = CanvasAdapter.newBitmap(DefaultIconSize, DefaultIconSize, 0);
+                org.oscim.backend.canvas.Canvas defaultMarkerCanvas = CanvasAdapter.newCanvas();
+                defaultMarkerCanvas.setBitmap(bitmapPoi);
+
+                defaultMarkerCanvas.drawCircle(DefaultIconSize * 0.5f, DefaultIconSize * 0.5f, DefaultIconSize * 0.5f, fillPainter);
+
+            }
+
+            //Bitmap bitmapPoi = CanvasAdapter.decodeBitmap(getClass().getResourceAsStream("/res/marker_poi2.png"));
+            MarkerSymbol symbol = new MarkerSymbol(bitmapPoi, HotspotPlace.CENTER, false);
+
+            ItemizedLayer<MarkerItem> markerLayer = new ItemizedLayer<>(mMap, new ArrayList<MarkerItem>(), symbol, this);
+            mMap.layers().add(markerLayer);
+
+            // creating some poi's
+            List<MarkerItem> pts = new ArrayList<>();
+            pts.add(new MarkerItem("Brandenburger Tor", "#1789-1793", new GeoPoint(52.516275, 13.377704)));
+            pts.add(new MarkerItem("Siegessaeule, hidden description", "this is a hidden Description without a #", new GeoPoint(52.514543, 13.350119)));
+            pts.add(new MarkerItem("Gleisdreieck, without description", "", new GeoPoint(52.499562, 13.374063)));
+            pts.add(new MarkerItem("Potsdamer Platz", "#this is multiline description\n"
+                    + "demonstrating that only\n"
+                    + "the first line\n"
+                    + "is drawn on the map\n"
+                    + "the rest is surpressed", new GeoPoint(52.509352, 13.375739)));
+
+            for (MarkerItem mi : pts) {
+                System.out.println("title: " + mi.title);
+                mi.setMarker(createAdvancedSymbol(mi, bitmapPoi));
+            }
+
+            markerLayer.addItems(pts);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a transparent symbol with text and description.
+     *
+     * @param item      -> the MarkerItem to process, containing title and description
+     *                  if description starts with a '#' the first line of the description is drawn.
+     * @param poiBitmap -> poi bitmap for the center
+     * @return MarkerSymbol with title, description and symbol
+     */
+    private MarkerSymbol createAdvancedSymbol(MarkerItem item, Bitmap poiBitmap) {
+        final Paint textPainter = CanvasAdapter.newPaint();
+        textPainter.setStyle(Paint.Style.STROKE);
+        textPainter.setColor(FG_COLOR);
+
+        final Paint fillPainter = CanvasAdapter.newPaint();
+        fillPainter.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
+        fillPainter.setColor(BG_COLOR);
+
+        int margin = 3;
+        int dist2symbol = 30;
+
+        int titleWidth = ((int) textPainter.getTextWidth(item.title) + 2 * margin);
+        int titleHeight = ((int) textPainter.getTextHeight(item.title) + 2 * margin);
+
+        int symbolWidth = poiBitmap.getWidth();
+
+        int subtitleWidth = 0;
+        int subtitleHeight = 0;
+        String subtitle = "";
+        boolean hasSubtitle = false;
+        if (item.description.length() > 1) {
+            if (item.description.startsWith("#")) {
+                subtitle = item.description.substring(1); // not the first # char
+                subtitle = subtitle.split("\\R", 2)[0]; // only first line
+                subtitleWidth = ((int) textPainter.getTextWidth(subtitle)) + 2 * margin;
+                subtitleHeight = ((int) textPainter.getTextHeight(subtitle)) + 2 * margin;
+                hasSubtitle = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        int xSize = java.lang.Math.max(titleWidth, subtitleWidth);
+        xSize = java.lang.Math.max(xSize, symbolWidth);
+
+        int ySize = titleHeight + symbolWidth + dist2symbol;
+
+        // markerCanvas, the drawing area for all: title, description and symbol
+        Bitmap markerBitmap = CanvasAdapter.newBitmap(xSize, ySize, 0);
+        org.oscim.backend.canvas.Canvas markerCanvas = CanvasAdapter.newCanvas();
+        markerCanvas.setBitmap(markerBitmap);
+
+        // titleCanvas for the title text
+        Bitmap titleBitmap = CanvasAdapter.newBitmap(titleWidth + margin, titleHeight + margin, 0);
+        org.oscim.backend.canvas.Canvas titleCanvas = CanvasAdapter.newCanvas();
+        titleCanvas.setBitmap(titleBitmap);
+
+        { // testing block
+            /*
+             * the following three lines displaying a transparent box.
+             * only for testing purposes, normally uncommented
+             */
+            //fillPainter.setColor(0x60ffffff);
+            //markerCanvas.drawCircle(0, 0, xSize*2, fillPainter);
+            //fillPainter.setColor(BG_COLOR);
+        }
+
+        // draw an oversized transparent circle, so the canvas is completely filled with a transparent color
+        // titleCanvas.fillRectangle() does not support transparency
+        titleCanvas.drawCircle(0, 0, xSize * 2, fillPainter);
+
+        titleCanvas.drawText(item.title, margin, titleHeight - margin, textPainter);
+
+        if (hasSubtitle) {
+            Bitmap subtitleBitmap = CanvasAdapter.newBitmap(subtitleWidth + margin, subtitleHeight + margin, 0);
+            org.oscim.backend.canvas.Canvas subtitleCanvas = CanvasAdapter.newCanvas();
+            subtitleCanvas.setBitmap(subtitleBitmap);
+            subtitleCanvas.drawCircle(0, 0, xSize * 2, fillPainter);
+            subtitleCanvas.drawText(subtitle, margin, titleHeight - margin, textPainter);
+            markerCanvas.drawBitmap(subtitleBitmap, xSize * 0.5f - (subtitleWidth * 0.5f), ySize - (subtitleHeight + margin));
+        }
+
+        markerCanvas.drawBitmap(titleBitmap, xSize * 0.5f - (titleWidth * 0.5f), 0);
+        markerCanvas.drawBitmap(poiBitmap, xSize * 0.5f - (symbolWidth * 0.5f), ySize * 0.5f - (symbolWidth * 0.5f));
+
+        return (new MarkerSymbol(markerBitmap, HotspotPlace.CENTER, true));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean onItemSingleTapUp(int index, MarkerItem item) {
+        System.out.println("Marker tap " + item.getTitle());
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean onItemLongPress(int index, MarkerItem item) {
+        System.out.println("Marker long press " + item.getTitle());
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        GdxMapApp.init();
+        GdxMapApp.run(new MarkerLayerLabelsTest());
+    }
+
+    private class MapEventsReceiver extends Layer implements GestureListener {
+
+        MapEventsReceiver(Map map) {
+            super(map);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean onGesture(Gesture g, MotionEvent e) {
+            if (g instanceof Gesture.Tap) {
+                GeoPoint p = mMap.viewport().fromScreenPoint(e.getX(), e.getY());
+                System.out.println("Map tap " + p);
+                return true;
+            }
+            if (g instanceof Gesture.LongPress) {
+                GeoPoint p = mMap.viewport().fromScreenPoint(e.getX(), e.getY());
+                System.out.println("Map long press " + p);
+                return true;
+            }
+            if (g instanceof Gesture.TripleTap) {
+                GeoPoint p = mMap.viewport().fromScreenPoint(e.getX(), e.getY());
+                System.out.println("Map triple tap " + p);
+                return true;
+            }
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+}