diff --git a/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/config/groups/ControllerConfigGroup.java b/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/config/groups/ControllerConfigGroup.java
index 9cbde96f1e3..c84d9eee16c 100644
--- a/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/config/groups/ControllerConfigGroup.java
+++ b/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/config/groups/ControllerConfigGroup.java
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ public enum CleanIterations {
 	private static final String COMPRESSION_TYPE = "compressionType";
 	private static final String EVENT_TYPE_TO_CREATE_SCORING_FUNCTIONS = "createScoringFunctionType";
 
+	private static final String MEMORY_OBSERVER_INTERVAL = "memoryObserverInterval";
+
 	/*package*/ static final String MOBSIM = "mobsim";
 	public enum MobsimType {qsim, JDEQSim, hermes}
 
@@ -109,6 +111,8 @@ public enum MobsimType {qsim, JDEQSim, hermes}
 
 	private CleanIterations cleanItersAtEnd = CleanIterations.keep;
 
+	private int memoryObserverInterval = 60;
+
 	public ControllerConfigGroup() {
 		super(GROUP_NAME);
 	}
@@ -151,6 +155,7 @@ public final Map<String, String> getComments() {
 				"to a file. `0' disables snapshots writing completely");
 		map.put(DUMP_DATA_AT_END, "true if at the end of a run, plans, network, config etc should be dumped to a file");
 		map.put(CLEAN_ITERS_AT_END, "Defines what should be done with the ITERS directory when a simulation finished successfully");
+		map.put(MEMORY_OBSERVER_INTERVAL, "Defines the interval for printing memory usage to the log in [seconds]. Must be positive. Defaults to 60.");
 		return map;
 	}
 
@@ -427,6 +432,17 @@ public EventTypeToCreateScoringFunctions getEventTypeToCreateScoringFunctions()
 	public void setEventTypeToCreateScoringFunctions(EventTypeToCreateScoringFunctions eventTypeToCreateScoringFunctions) {
 		this.eventTypeToCreateScoringFunctions = eventTypeToCreateScoringFunctions;
 	}
+
+	@StringGetter(MEMORY_OBSERVER_INTERVAL)
+	public int getMemoryObserverInterval() {
+		return memoryObserverInterval;
+	}
+
+	@StringSetter(MEMORY_OBSERVER_INTERVAL)
+	public void setMemoryObserverInterval(int memoryObserverInterval) {
+		this.memoryObserverInterval = memoryObserverInterval;
+	}
+
 	// ---
 	int writePlansUntilIteration = 1 ;
 	public int getWritePlansUntilIteration() {
@@ -450,5 +466,8 @@ protected void checkConsistency(Config config) {
 			log.warn( "this is not recommended, as it might result in a directory containing output from several model runs" );
 			log.warn( "prefer the options "+OverwriteFileSetting.deleteDirectoryIfExists+" or "+OverwriteFileSetting.failIfDirectoryExists );
 		}
+		if(config.controller().getMemoryObserverInterval() < 0) {
+			log.warn("Memory observer interval is negative. Simulation will most likely crash.");
+		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/controler/AbstractController.java b/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/controler/AbstractController.java
index 93c1680a231..a1c008e31ba 100644
--- a/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/controler/AbstractController.java
+++ b/matsim/src/main/java/org/matsim/core/controler/AbstractController.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ final void setupOutputDirectory(OutputDirectoryHierarchy controlerIO) {
     }
 
     protected final void run(final Config config) {
-        MemoryObserver.start(60);
+        MemoryObserver.start(config.controller().getMemoryObserverInterval());
         MatsimRuntimeModifications.MyRunnable runnable = new MatsimRuntimeModifications.MyRunnable() {
             @Override
             public void run() throws MatsimRuntimeModifications.UnexpectedShutdownException {