diff --git a/dev/releases/generate_release_notes.py b/dev/releases/generate_release_notes.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..1f5531a0e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/releases/generate_release_notes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,302 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+#
+# Usage:
+#     ./generate_release_notes.py minor
+# or
+#     ./generate_release_notes.py major
+# 
+# to specify the type of the release.
+#
+# Output and description: 
+# This script is used to automatically generate the release notes based on the labels of
+# pull requests that have been merged into the master branch since the starting date
+# specified in the `history_start_date` variable below.
+#
+# For each such pull request (PR), this script extracts from GitHub its title, number and
+# labels, using the GitHub API via the PyGithub package (https://github.com/PyGithub/PyGithub).
+# To help to track the progress, it will output the number of the currently processed PR.
+# For API requests using Basic Authentication or OAuth, you can make up to 5,000 requests
+# per hour (https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api#rate-limiting).
+# As of March 2021 this script consumes about 3400 API calls and runs for about 25 minutes.
+# This is why, to reduce the number of API calls and minimise the need to retrieve the data,
+# PR details will be stored in the file `prscache.json`, which will then be used to
+# categorise PR following the priority list and discussion from #4257, and output three
+# files:
+# - "releasenotes_*.md"   : list of PR by categories for adding to release notes
+# - "unsorted_PRs_*.md"    : list of PR that could not be categorised
+# - "releasenotes_*.json" : data for `BrowseReleaseNotes` function by Thomas Breuer (see #4257).
+# where "*" is "minor" or "major" depending on the type of the release.
+#
+# If this script detects the file `prscache.json` it will use it, otherwise it will retrieve
+# new data from GitHub. Thus, if new PR were merged, or there were updates of titles and labels
+# of merged PRs, you need to delete `prscache.json` to enforce updating local data (TODO: make
+# this turned on/off via a command line option in the next version).
+#
+# To find out when a branch was created, use e.g.
+#     git show --summary `git merge-base stable-4.11 master`
+#
+
+import sys
+import json
+import os.path
+from github import Github
+from datetime import datetime
+import utils
+
+
+#############################################################################
+#
+# Configuration parameters
+#
+# the earliest date we need to track for the next minor/major releases
+history_start_date = "2019-09-09"
+
+# the date of the last minor release (later, we may need to have more precise timestamp
+# - maybe extracted from the corresponding release tag)
+minor_branch_start_date = "2021-03-03" # next day after the minor release (starts at midnight)
+# question: what if it was merged into master before 4.11.1, but backported after?
+# Hopefully, before publishing 4.11.1 we have backported everything that had to be
+# backported, so this was not the case.
+
+# this version number needed to form labels like "backport-to-4.11-DONE"
+minor_branch_version = "4.11"
+
+# not yet - will make sense after branching the `stable-4.12` branch:
+# major_branch_start_date = "2019-09-09"
+# major_branch_version = "4.12"
+# note that we will have to collate together PRs which are not backported to stable-4.11
+# between `history_start_date` and `major_branch_start_date`, and PRs backported to
+# stable-4.12 after `major_branch_start_date`
+#
+#############################################################################
+
+def usage():
+    print("Usage: `./release-notes.py minor` or `./release-notes.py major`")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+
+def get_prs(repo,startdate):
+    """Retrieves data for PRs matching selection criteria and puts them in a dictionary,
+       which is then saved in a json file, and also returned for immediate use."""
+    # The output `prs` is a dictionary with keys being PR numbers, and values being
+    # dictionaries with keys "title", "closed_at" and "labels", for example:
+    #
+    # "3355": {
+    #     "title": "Allow packages to use ISO 8601 dates in their PackageInfo.g",
+    #     "closed_at": "2021-02-20T15:44:48",
+    #     "labels": [
+    #         "gapdays2019-spring",
+    #         "gapsingular2019",
+    #         "kind: enhancement",
+    #         "release notes: to be added"
+    #     ]
+    # },
+  
+    prs = {}
+    all_pulls = repo.get_pulls(state="closed", sort="created", direction="desc", base="master")
+    # We need to run this over the whole list of PRs. Sorting by creation date descending
+    # is not really helping - could be that some very old PRs are being merged.
+    for pr in all_pulls:
+        print(pr.number, end=" ")
+        # flush stdout immediately, to see progress indicator
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+        if pr.merged:
+            if pr.closed_at > datetime.fromisoformat(history_start_date):
+                # getting labels will cost further API calls - if the startdate is
+                # too far in the past, that may exceed the API capacity
+                labs = [lab.name for lab in list(pr.get_labels())]
+                prs[pr.number] = { "title" : pr.title,
+                                    "closed_at" : pr.closed_at.isoformat(),
+                                    "labels" : labs }
+#                 if len(prs)>5: # for quick testing (maybe later have an optional argument)
+#                     break
+    print("\n")
+    with open("prscache.json", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        json.dump(prs, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)
+    return prs    
+
+
+def filter_prs(prs,rel_type):
+    newprs = {}
+
+    if rel_type == "minor":
+
+        # For minor release, list PRs backported to the stable-4.X brach since the previous minor release.
+        for k,v in sorted(prs.items()):
+            if "backport-to-" + minor_branch_version + "-DONE" in v["labels"]:
+                if datetime.fromisoformat(v["closed_at"]) > datetime.fromisoformat(minor_branch_start_date):
+                    newprs[k] = v
+        return newprs
+
+    elif rel_type == "major":
+
+        # For major release, list PRs not backported to the stable-4.X brach.
+        # After branching stable-4.12 this will have to be changed to stop checking
+        # for "backport-to-4.11-DONE" at the date of the branching, and check for
+        # "backport-to-4.12-DONE" after that date
+        for k,v in sorted(prs.items()):
+            if not "backport-to-" + minor_branch_version + "-DONE" in v["labels"]:
+                newprs[k] = v
+        return newprs
+
+    else:
+
+        usage()
+
+
+def pr_to_md(k, title):
+    """Returns markdown string for the PR entry"""
+    return f"- [#{k}](https://github.com/gap-system/gap/pull/{k}) {title}\n"
+
+
+def changes_overview(prs,startdate,rel_type):
+    """Writes files with information for release notes."""
+
+    # Opening files with "w" resets them
+    relnotes_file = open("releasenotes_" + rel_type + ".md", "w")
+    unsorted_file = open("unsorted_PRs_" + rel_type + ".md", "w")
+    relnotes_json = open("releasenotes_" + rel_type + ".json", "w")
+    jsondict = prs.copy()
+
+    # the following is a list of pairs [LABEL, DESCRIPTION]; the first entry is the name of a GitHub label
+    # (be careful to match them precisely), the second is a headline for a section the release notes; any PR with
+    # the given label is put into the corresponding section; each PR is put into only one section, the first one
+    # one from this list it fits in.
+    # See also <https://github.com/gap-system/gap/issues/4257>.
+    prioritylist = [
+        ["release notes: highlight", "New features and major changes"],
+        ["kind: bug: wrong result", "Fixed bugs that could lead to incorrect results"],
+        ["kind: bug: crash", "Fixed bugs that could lead to crashes"],
+        ["kind: bug: unexpected error", "Fixed bugs that could lead to break loops"],
+        ["kind: bug", "Other fixed bugs"],
+        ["kind: enhancement", "Improved and extended functionality"],
+        ["kind: new feature", "New features"], 
+        ["kind: performance", "Performance improvements"],
+        ["topic: libgap", "Improvements to the interface which allows 3rd party code to link GAP as a library"],
+        ["topic: julia", "Improvements in the support for using the **Julia** garbage collector"],
+        ["topic: documentation", "Changed documentation"],
+        ["topic: packages", "Packages"]
+    ]
+
+    # Could also introduce some consistency checks here for wrong combinations of labels
+
+    # Drop PRs not needed for release notes
+    removelist = []
+    for k in prs:
+        if "release notes: not needed" in prs[k]["labels"]:
+            removelist.append(k)
+    for item in removelist:
+        del prs[item]
+        del jsondict[item]
+
+    # Report PRs that have to be updated before inclusion into release notes.
+    unsorted_file.write("### " + "release notes: to be added" + "\n\n")
+    unsorted_file.write("If there are any PRs listed below, check their title and labels.\n")
+    unsorted_file.write("When done, change their label to \"release notes: use title\".\n\n")
+    removelist = []
+    for k in prs:
+        if "release notes: to be added" in prs[k]["labels"]:
+            unsorted_file.write(pr_to_md(k, prs[k]["title"]))
+            removelist.append(k)
+    for item in removelist:
+        del prs[item]
+    unsorted_file.write("\n")
+
+    # Report PRs that have neither "to be added" nor "added" or "use title" label
+    unsorted_file.write("### Uncategorized PR" + "\n\n")
+    unsorted_file.write("If there are any PRs listed below, either apply the same steps\n")
+    unsorted_file.write("as above, or change their label to \"release notes: not needed\".\n\n")
+    removelist = []
+    for k in prs:
+        # we need to use both old "release notes: added" label and
+        # the newly introduced in "release notes: use title" label
+        # since both label may appear in GAP 4.12.0 changes overview
+        if not ("release notes: added" in prs[k]["labels"] or "release notes: use title" in prs[k]["labels"]):
+            unsorted_file.write(pr_to_md(k, prs[k]["title"]))
+            removelist.append(k)
+    for item in removelist:
+        del prs[item]
+    unsorted_file.close()
+
+    # All remaining PRs are to be included in the release notes
+
+    relnotes_file.write("## Release Notes \n\n")
+
+    for priorityobject in prioritylist:
+        relnotes_file.write("### " + priorityobject[1] + "\n\n")
+        removelist = []
+        for k in prs:
+            if priorityobject[0] in prs[k]["labels"]:
+                relnotes_file.write(pr_to_md(k, prs[k]["title"]))
+                removelist.append(k)
+        for item in removelist:
+            del prs[item]
+        relnotes_file.write("\n")
+
+    # The remaining PRs have no "kind" or "topic" label from the priority list
+    # (may have other "kind" or "topic" label outside the priority list).
+    # Check their list in the release notes, and adjust labels if appropriate.
+    relnotes_file.write("### Other changes \n\n")
+    for k in prs:
+        relnotes_file.write(pr_to_md(k, prs[k]["title"]))
+    relnotes_file.write("\n")
+    relnotes_file.close()
+
+    relnotes_json.write("[")
+    jsonlist = []
+    for k in jsondict:
+        temp = []
+        temp.append(str(jsondict[k]["title"]))
+        temp.append(str(k))
+        temp.append(jsondict[k]["labels"])
+        jsonlist.append(temp)
+    for item in jsonlist:
+        relnotes_json.write("%s\n" % item)
+    relnotes_json.write("]")
+    relnotes_json.close
+
+
+def main(rel_type):
+
+    utils.initialize_github()
+    g = utils.GITHUB_INSTANCE
+    repo = utils.CURRENT_REPO
+    
+    # There is a GitHub API capacity of 5000 per hour i.e. that a maximum of 5000 requests can be made to GitHub per hour.
+    # Therefore, the following line indicates how many requests are currently still available
+    print("Current GitHub API capacity", g.rate_limiting, "at", datetime.now().isoformat() )
+
+    # If this limit is exceeded, an exception will be raised:
+    # github.GithubException.RateLimitExceededException: 403
+    # {"message": "API rate limit exceeded for user ID XXX.", "documentation_url":
+    # "https://docs.github.com/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api#rate-limiting"}
+
+
+    # TODO: we cache PRs data in a local file. For now, if it exists, it will be used, 
+    # otherwise it will be recreated. Later, there may be an option to use the cache or 
+    # to enforce retrieving updated PR details from Github. I think default is to update 
+    # from GitHub (to get newly merged PRs, updates of labels, PR titles etc., while the
+    # cache could be used for testing and polishing the code to generate output )
+
+    # TODO: add some data to the cache, e.g. when the cache is saved.
+    # Produce warning if old.
+
+    if os.path.isfile("prscache.json"):
+        print("Using cached data from prscache.json ...")
+        with open("prscache.json", "r") as read_file:
+            prs = json.load(read_file)
+    else:    
+        print("Retrieving data using GitHub API ...")
+        prs = get_prs(repo,history_start_date)
+  
+    prs = filter_prs(prs,rel_type)
+    changes_overview(prs,history_start_date,rel_type)
+    print("Remaining GitHub API capacity", g.rate_limiting, "at", datetime.now().isoformat() )
+
+    
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # the argument is "minor" or "major" to specify release kind
+    if len(sys.argv) != 2 or not sys.argv[1] in ["minor","major"]:
+        usage()
+
+    main(sys.argv[1])
diff --git a/dev/release_notes.readme.md b/dev/releases/release_notes.readme.md
similarity index 100%
rename from dev/release_notes.readme.md
rename to dev/releases/release_notes.readme.md