diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanElementQuery.java b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanElementQuery.java
index 15177c6..692d7b0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanElementQuery.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanElementQuery.java
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.index.Terms;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.TermsEnum;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.spans.SpanQuery;
-import org.apache.lucene.search.spans.SpanTermQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.Bits;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.ToStringUtils;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.spans.Spans;
@@ -20,8 +19,8 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 
-/** Extend element with attribute option
- * 	@author Nils Diewald, Margaretha
+/** 
+ * 	@author Nils Diewald
  */
 
 /** Matches spans wrapped by an element. */
@@ -29,7 +28,6 @@
     protected Term element;
     private String elementStr;
     private String field;
-    private boolean attribute = false;
     
     /** Constructor. */
     public SpanElementQuery (String field, String term) {
@@ -38,12 +36,7 @@
 	this.elementStr = term;
 	this.element = new Term(field, sb.append(term).toString());
     };
-    
-    public SpanElementQuery(String field, String term, boolean attribute){
-    	this(field, term);
-    	this.attribute = attribute;
-    }
-
+        
     /** Return the element whose spans are matched. */
     public Term getElement() { return element; };