diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b38c4f3..f9def46 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
+## [2.5.2] - 2026-03-16
+
+### Added
+
+- Added `toTimestamp` function to the `DateFormatter` class
+
 ## [2.5.1] - 2026-03-13
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5309dee..7463f31 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   "publishConfig": {
     "access": "public"
   },
-  "version": "2.5.1",
+  "version": "2.5.2",
   "license": "MIT",
   "private": false,
   "engines": {
diff --git a/src/util/PatternCompiler/Plugin/DateFormatter.ts b/src/util/PatternCompiler/Plugin/DateFormatter.ts
index 112d340..012a6c7 100644
--- a/src/util/PatternCompiler/Plugin/DateFormatter.ts
+++ b/src/util/PatternCompiler/Plugin/DateFormatter.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,19 @@ export class DateFormatter {
     return Number.isNaN(parsed.getTime()) ? null : parsed;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Safely converts a date-string into a timestamp.
+   */
+  static toTimestamp(value: string | null | undefined): number | null {
+    if (!value) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    const parsed = new Date(value);
+    const time = parsed.getTime();
+    return Number.isNaN(time) ? null : time;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Formats a date with time in German format
    * @param date Date object or date string to format