diff --git a/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/DefaultRepositoryManager.java b/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/DefaultRepositoryManager.java
index e91a561..cdfa55f 100644
--- a/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/DefaultRepositoryManager.java
+++ b/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/DefaultRepositoryManager.java
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ import javax.jcr.Node;
 import javax.jcr.Repository;
 import javax.jcr.RepositoryException;
 import javax.jcr.Session;
+import javax.jcr.Workspace;
 
 import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -176,6 +177,22 @@ public final class DefaultRepositoryManager implements RepositoryManager {
         for (WorkspaceMappingDefinition workspaceMapping : mapping.getWorkspaceMappings()) {
             this.workspaceMapping.addWorkspaceMappingDefinition(workspaceMapping);
         }
+
+        // some workspaces might exist even if they are not mapped ... provider knows about them so we should not exclude them.
+        for (RepositoryDefinition repoDefinition : workspaceMapping.getRepositoryDefinitions()) {
+            String repoName = repoDefinition.getName();
+            Provider provider = workspaceMapping.getRepositoryProvider(repoName);
+            Session session = provider.getSystemSession("default");
+            try {
+                for (String wksName : session.getWorkspace().getAccessibleWorkspaceNames()) {
+                    if (!hasWorkspace(wksName)) {
+                        loadWorkspace(repoName, wksName);
+                    }
+                }
+            } finally {
+                session.logout();
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -242,6 +259,18 @@ public final class DefaultRepositoryManager implements RepositoryManager {
         return wrapSession(provider.getSystemSession(mapping.getPhysicalWorkspaceName()), logicalWorkspaceName);
     }
 
+    public void createWorkspace(String repository, String logicalWorkspaceName) throws RepositoryException {
+        for (WorkspaceMappingDefinition mapping : workspaceMapping.getWorkspaceMappings()) {
+            if (mapping.getRepositoryName().equals(repository)) {
+                Workspace workspace = getSystemSession(mapping.getLogicalWorkspaceName()).getWorkspace();
+                workspace.createWorkspace(logicalWorkspaceName);
+                workspaceMapping.addWorkspaceMapping(new WorkspaceMappingDefinition(logicalWorkspaceName, repository, logicalWorkspaceName));
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+        throw new RepositoryException("Repository [" + repository + "] doesn't exist.");
+    }
+
     private Session wrapSession(Session session, String logicalWorkspaceName) {
         session = new TrackingSessionWrapper(session, JCRStats.getInstance());
         if ("imaging".equals(logicalWorkspaceName) || "Expressions".equals(logicalWorkspaceName) || "Store".equals(logicalWorkspaceName) || "mgnlSystem".equals(logicalWorkspaceName)) {
diff --git a/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/RepositoryManager.java b/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/RepositoryManager.java
index 4928b47..77a110a 100644
--- a/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/RepositoryManager.java
+++ b/magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/repository/RepositoryManager.java
@@ -141,4 +141,13 @@ public interface RepositoryManager {
      * @return repository names
      */
     Collection<String> getWorkspaceNames();
+
+    /**
+     * Registers permanently new workspace and makes it available in Magnolia.
+     * 
+     * @param repository Repository name.
+     * @param logicalWorkspaceName Workspace name.
+     */
+    void createWorkspace(String repository, String logicalWorkspaceName) throws RepositoryException;
+
 }