diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index f272daa..2b4babf 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     if(initialise_ram(ram,argc,argv)==-1) return 1;     /*load data from command line into RAM
                                                         (-1 in case of error,
                                                         else number of correctly read words)*/
+
+    print_architecture();                               //print cpu architecture at startup
+
     while(run)
     {
         ir = ram[pc];        				//get instruction from RAM
diff --git a/src/toy.c b/src/toy.c
index 56b0c57..f8070b8 100644
--- a/src/toy.c
+++ b/src/toy.c
@@ -41,6 +41,40 @@ void print_instructionSet(void)
             "\tmichael.krause@uni-leipzig.de\n");
 }
 
+void print_architecture(void)
+{ 
+    printf(
+"                       +---------------+                 +--------+\n"
+"                       |               |                 v        |\n"
+"          +------------v------------+  |              +--+-----+  |\n"
+"          | INSTRUCTION REGISTER(IR)|  |              |ACCU    |  |\n"
+"          +-------------------------+  |              |(16 BIT)|  |\n"
+"          ||OP-CODE || ADDRESS     ||  |              +--+-----+  |\n"
+"          ||(4 BIT) || (12 BIT)    ||  |                 |        |\n"
+"          |----+-----------+--------|  |                 |        |\n"
+"          +--- | --------- | -------+  +------|          |        |\n"
+"               |           |           |      v          v        |\n"
+"      +--------+  +--------+           |    +-+--+    +--+-+      |\n"
+"      |           |        |           |    |    +----+    |      |\n"
+"      v           |        v           |    |     ALU      |      |\n"
+"+-----+-------+   |   +----+--------+  |    ++  (16 BIT) +-+      |\n"
+"|             |   |   |     PC      |  |     ++         ++        |\n"
+"|CONTROL LOGIC|   |   |   12 BIT    |  |      +-------+-+         |\n"
+"|             |   |   |             |  |              |           |\n"
+"+-------------+   |   +-+-----------+  |              +-----------+\n"
+"                  |     |              |              v\n"
+"                  v     v              | +------------+----------+\n"
+"                +-++   ++-+            | |            DATA IN    |\n"
+"                |  +---+  |            +-+ DATA OUT              |\n"
+"                |   MUX   |              | +-------------------+ |\n"
+"                ++ 12 BIT++              | |4k WORDS OF 16 BITS| |\n"
+"                 +---+---+               | +-------------------+ |\n"
+"                     |                   |                       |\n"
+"                     +------------------ > ADDR                  |\n"
+"                                         +-----------------------+\n"
+"\n");
+}
+
 void print_instruction(uint8_t opcode)
 {
     opcode%=16;
@@ -94,6 +128,13 @@ int initialise_ram(uint16_t *ram, int argc, char **argv )
       return -1;
     }
 
+    if(strcmp(argv[1],"-i")==0)
+    {
+        printf("interpretation terminated.\n\n");
+        print_architecture();
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     if(NULL==(fp=fopen(argv[1],"r")))
     {
         fprintf(stderr,"%s","open input stream error !\n");
diff --git a/src/toy.h b/src/toy.h
index ae6350e..35c32fd 100644
--- a/src/toy.h
+++ b/src/toy.h
@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@ extern const uint16_t * const ACCU; //read only access to accu
 
 void print_instructionSet(void);
 
+/**
+* print_instructionSet(): prints the cpu architecture.
+* This is a user help function and can be activated via
+* the -i parameter.
+* Return: none
+*/
+
+
+void print_architecture(void);
+
 /**
 * print_instruction(): converts a OP-Code into a human word.
 * Return: none