Index: src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/ExtensionFileFilter.java
===================================================================
--- src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/ExtensionFileFilter.java	(revision 7537)
+++ src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/ExtensionFileFilter.java	(working copy)
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
                 "org.openstreetmap.josm.io.OsmChangeImporter",
                 "org.openstreetmap.josm.io.GpxImporter",
                 "org.openstreetmap.josm.io.NMEAImporter",
+                "org.openstreetmap.josm.io.NoteImporter",
                 "org.openstreetmap.josm.io.OsmBzip2Importer",
                 "org.openstreetmap.josm.io.JpgImporter",
                 "org.openstreetmap.josm.io.WMSLayerImporter",
Index: src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteImporter.java
===================================================================
--- src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteImporter.java	(revision 0)
+++ src/org/openstreetmap/josm/io/NoteImporter.java	(working copy)
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// License: GPL. For details, see LICENSE file.
+package org.openstreetmap.josm.io;
+
+import static org.openstreetmap.josm.tools.I18n.tr;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.Main;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.actions.ExtensionFileFilter;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.data.notes.Note;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.gui.layer.NoteLayer;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.gui.progress.ProgressMonitor;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.gui.util.GuiHelper;
+import org.openstreetmap.josm.tools.Utils;
+import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
+
+/**
+ * File importer that reads note dump files (*.osn and .osn.bz2)
+ */
+public class NoteImporter extends FileImporter {
+
+    private static final ExtensionFileFilter FILE_FILTER = new ExtensionFileFilter(
+            "osn,osn.bz2", "osn", tr("Note Files") + " (*.osn *.osn.bz2)");
+
+    /** Create an importer for note dump files */
+    public NoteImporter() {
+        super(FILE_FILTER);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void importData(File file, ProgressMonitor progressMonitor) throws IOException {
+        Main.debug("importing notes file " + file.getAbsolutePath());
+        final String fileName = file.getName();
+        InputStream is;
+        if(fileName.endsWith(".bz2")) {
+            is = Utils.getBZip2InputStream(new FileInputStream(file));
+        } else {
+            is = new FileInputStream(file);
+        }
+        NoteReader reader = new NoteReader(is);
+        try {
+            final List<Note> fileNotes = reader.parse();
+
+            List<NoteLayer> noteLayers = null;
+            if (Main.map != null) {
+                noteLayers = Main.map.mapView.getLayersOfType(NoteLayer.class);
+            }
+            if (noteLayers != null && noteLayers.size() > 0) {
+                NoteLayer layer = noteLayers.get(0);
+                layer.addNotes(fileNotes);
+            } else {
+                GuiHelper.runInEDT(new Runnable() {
+                    @Override
+                    public void run() {
+                        NoteLayer layer = new NoteLayer(fileNotes, fileName);
+                        Main.main.addLayer(layer);
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+        } catch (SAXException e) {
+            Main.error("error opening up notes file");
+            Main.error(e, true);
+            throw new IOException(e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+        finally {
+            Utils.close(is);
+        }
+    }
+
+}