diff --git a/library/Icinga/Web/Widget/AbstractWidget.php b/library/Icinga/Web/Widget/AbstractWidget.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd8e7a8df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/library/Icinga/Web/Widget/AbstractWidget.php
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Web Widget abstract class
+ */
+namespace Icinga\Web\Widget;
+
+use Icinga\Exception\ProgrammingError;
+use Zend_Controller_Action_HelperBroker as ZfActionHelper;
+use Zend_View_Abstract;
+use Icinga\Web\Widget\Widget;
+
+/**
+ * Web widgets MUST extend this class
+ *
+ * AbstractWidget implements getters and setters for widget options stored in
+ * the protected options array. If you want to allow options for your own
+ * widget, you have to set a default value (may be null) for each single option
+ * in this array.
+ *
+ * Please have a look at the available widgets in this folder to get a better
+ * idea on what they should look like.
+ *
+ * @copyright  Copyright (c) 2013 Icinga-Web Team <info@icinga.org>
+ * @author     Icinga-Web Team <info@icinga.org>
+ * @license    http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU General Public License
+ */
+abstract class AbstractWidget implements Widget
+{
+    /**
+     * If you are going to access the current view with the view() function,
+     * it's instance is stored here for performance reasons.
+     *
+     * @var Zend_View_Abstract
+     */
+    protected static $view;
+
+    abstract public function render(Zend_View_Abstract $view);
+
+    /**
+     * Getter for widget properties
+     *
+     * @param  string $key The option you're interested in
+     *
+     * @throws ProgrammingError for unknown property name
+     *
+     * @return mixed
+     */
+    public function __get($key)
+    {
+        if (array_key_exists($key, $this->properties)) {
+            return $this->properties[$key];
+        }
+
+        throw new ProgrammingError(
+            sprintf(
+                'Trying to get invalid "%s" property for %s',
+                $key,
+                get_class($this)
+            )
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Setter for widget properties
+     *
+     * @param  string $key The option you want to set
+     * @param  string $val The new value going to be assigned to this option
+     *
+     * @throws ProgrammingError for unknown property name
+     *
+     * @return mixed
+     */
+    public function __set($key, $val)
+    {
+        if (array_key_exists($key, $this->properties)) {
+            $this->properties[$key] = $val;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        throw new ProgrammingError(
+            sprintf(
+                'Trying to set invalid "%s" property in %s. Allowed are: %s',
+                $key,
+                get_class($this),
+                empty($this->properties)
+                ? 'none'
+                : implode(', ', array_keys($this->properties))
+            )
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Access the current view
+     *
+     * Will instantiate a new one if none exists
+     * // TODO: App->getView
+     *
+     * @return Zend_View_Abstract
+     */
+    protected function view()
+    {
+        if (self::$view === null) {
+
+            $renderer = ZfActionHelper::getStaticHelper(
+                'viewRenderer'
+            );
+
+            if (null === $renderer->view) {
+                $renderer->initView();
+            }
+
+            self::$view = $renderer->view;
+        }
+
+        return self::$view;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Cast this widget to a string. Will call your render() function
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function __toString()
+    {
+        try {
+            $html = $this->render($this->view());
+        } catch (Exception $e) {
+            return htmlspecialchars($e->getMessage());
+        }
+        return $html;
+    }
+}