diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index df9c24703..783d5a4ae 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ add_subdirectory (Expression)
 add_subdirectory (Types)
 add_subdirectory (Partition)
 add_subdirectory (Stream)
+add_subdirectory (Stream/HDF5)
+add_subdirectory (Stream/Format)
 
 
 if (ENABLE_SOLVERS)
diff --git a/src/Stream/CMakeLists.txt b/src/Stream/CMakeLists.txt
index ee1dc78dc..cdf274855 100644
--- a/src/Stream/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/Stream/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ set (_SRCS
 set (_HDRS
     BasicStreams.h
     BasicFileStream.h
-    StreamFormat.h
-    OpenPMD.h
     )
 
 include_DIRECTORIES (
@@ -18,6 +16,7 @@ add_ippl_headers (${_HDRS})
 
 install (FILES ${_HDRS} DESTINATION include/Stream)
 
+
 # vi: set et ts=4 sw=4 sts=4:
 
 # Local Variables:
diff --git a/src/Stream/Format/CMakeLists.txt b/src/Stream/Format/CMakeLists.txt
index 6ca040293..9bbba90c4 100644
--- a/src/Stream/Format/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/Stream/Format/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 set (_SRCS
+    OpenPMD.cpp
     )
 
 set (_HDRS
diff --git a/src/Stream/Format/Format.h b/src/Stream/Format/Format.h
index fead6fbe2..6e2d312f8 100644
--- a/src/Stream/Format/Format.h
+++ b/src/Stream/Format/Format.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-#ifndef IPPL_IOS_STANDARD_H
-#define IPPL_IOS_STANDARD_H
+#ifndef IPPL_STREAM_FORMAT_H
+#define IPPL_STREAM_FORMAT_H
 
 #include "Utility/ParameterList.h"
 
diff --git a/src/Stream/Format/OpenPMD.cpp b/src/Stream/Format/OpenPMD.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c16e0aa37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Stream/Format/OpenPMD.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#include "Stream/Format/OpenPMD.h"
+
+namespace ippl {
+
+    void OpenPMD::header(ParameterList* param) const {
+        // default parameter list
+        ParameterList pl;
+        pl.add<std::string>("version", version);
+        pl.add<std::string>("author", "none");
+        pl.add<std::string>("software", "none");
+        pl.add<std::string>("softwareVersion", "none");
+        pl.add<std::string>("softwareDependencies", "none");
+        pl.add<std::string>("date", this->date());
+        pl.add<std::string>("machine", "none");
+        pl.add<std::string>("comment", "none");
+
+        if (param != nullptr) {
+            pl.merge(*param);
+        }
+
+        *param = pl;
+    }
+
+    std::string OpenPMD::date() const {
+        std::time_t time = std::time({});
+        char timeString[std::size("YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss zzzzz")];
+        std::strftime(std::data(timeString), std::size(timeString), "%F %T %z",
+                      std::localtime(&time));
+        return timeString;
+    }
+}  // namespace ippl
diff --git a/src/Stream/Format/OpenPMD.h b/src/Stream/Format/OpenPMD.h
index 7596efc6f..ca6312295 100644
--- a/src/Stream/Format/OpenPMD.h
+++ b/src/Stream/Format/OpenPMD.h
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 #ifndef IPPL_STREAM_FORMAT_OPEN_PMD_H
 #define IPPL_STREAM_FORMAT_OPEN_PMD_H
 
+#include <ctime>
+#include <string>
+
 #include "Stream/Format/Format.h"
 
 namespace ippl {
@@ -14,17 +17,12 @@ namespace ippl {
     public:
         OpenPMD() = default;
 
-        void header(ParameterList* param) const override {
-            std::cout << "This file is written in OpenPMD standard." << std::endl;
-
-            param->add<std::string>("version", "1.1.0");
-            param->add<std::string>("author", "none");
-            param->add<std::string>("software", "Ippl");
-            param->add<std::string>("softwareVersion", "2.1.0");
-            param->add<std::string>("data", "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss tz");
-            param->add<std::string>("machine", "machine");
-            param->add<std::string>("comment", "");
-        }
+        void header(ParameterList* param) const override;
+
+    private:
+        const std::string version = "1.1.0";
+
+        std::string date() const;
     };
 }  // namespace ippl
 
diff --git a/src/Stream/HDF5/CMakeLists.txt b/src/Stream/HDF5/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..546a16cfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Stream/HDF5/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+set (_SRCS
+    )
+
+set (_HDRS
+    Stream.h
+    ParticleStream.h
+    ParticleStream.hpp
+    )
+
+include_DIRECTORIES (
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
+    )
+
+add_ippl_sources (${_SRCS})
+add_ippl_headers (${_HDRS})
+
+install (FILES ${_HDRS} DESTINATION include/Stream/HDF5)
+
+# vi: set et ts=4 sw=4 sts=4:
+
+# Local Variables:
+# mode: cmake
+# cmake-tab-width: 4
+# indent-tabs-mode: nil
+# require-final-newline: nil
+# End:
diff --git a/src/Stream/HDF5/Stream.h b/src/Stream/HDF5/Stream.h
index 4732e0b1b..dd0485981 100644
--- a/src/Stream/HDF5/Stream.h
+++ b/src/Stream/HDF5/Stream.h
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ namespace ippl {
                 const T& value         = pair.second;
 
                 H5::DataSpace dspace(H5S_SCALAR);  // FIXME We might also write arrays etc.
-                std::cout << "key " << key << std::endl;
+
                 H5::DataType type = core::get_hdf5_type(value);
 
                 H5::Attribute attr = this->h5file_m.createAttribute(key, type, dspace);