diff --git a/docs/modules/preprocessing.rst b/docs/modules/preprocessing.rst
index cbf76da..707b33c 100644
--- a/docs/modules/preprocessing.rst
+++ b/docs/modules/preprocessing.rst
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ frequently visits and/or infer if they correspond to activities.
 
 .. autofunction:: trackintel.preprocessing.staypoints.generate_locations
 
+Due to tracking artifacts, it can occur that one activity is split into several staypoints. 
+We can aggregate the staypoints horizontally that are close in time and at the same location.
+
+.. autofunction:: trackintel.preprocessing.staypoints.merge_staypoints
+
 Triplegs
 ========
 
diff --git a/trackintel/preprocessing/staypoints.py b/trackintel/preprocessing/staypoints.py
index 679c565..ed8837e 100644
--- a/trackintel/preprocessing/staypoints.py
+++ b/trackintel/preprocessing/staypoints.py
@@ -233,7 +233,8 @@ def merge_staypoints(staypoints, triplegs, max_time_gap="10min", agg={}):
     Parameters
     ----------
     staypoints : GeoDataFrame (as trackintel staypoints)
-        The staypoints have to follow the standard definition for staypoints DataFrames.
+        The staypoints must contain a column `location_id` (see `generate_locations` function) and have to follow the
+        standard trackintel definition for staypoints DataFrames.
 
     triplegs: GeoDataFrame (as trackintel triplegs)
         The triplegs have to follow the standard definition for triplegs DataFrames.
@@ -277,6 +278,7 @@ def merge_staypoints(staypoints, triplegs, max_time_gap="10min", agg={}):
     # otherwise check if it's a Timedelta already, and raise error if not
     elif not isinstance(max_time_gap, pd.Timedelta):
         raise TypeError("Parameter max_time_gap must be either of type String or pd.Timedelta!")
+    assert "location_id" in staypoints.columns, "Staypoints must contain column location_id"
 
     sp_merge = staypoints.copy()
     index_name = staypoints.index.name
@@ -285,6 +287,9 @@ def merge_staypoints(staypoints, triplegs, max_time_gap="10min", agg={}):
     tpls_merge = triplegs.copy()
     tpls_merge["type"] = "tripleg"
     sp_merge["type"] = "staypoint"
+    # convert datatypes in order to preserve the datatypes (especially ints) despite of NaNs during concat
+    sp_merge = sp_merge.convert_dtypes()
+
     # a joined dataframe sp_tpls is constructed to add the columns 'type' and 'next_type' to the 'sp_merge' table
     # concat and sort by time
     sp_tpls = pd.concat([sp_merge, tpls_merge]).sort_values(by=["user_id", "started_at"])
@@ -327,7 +332,13 @@ def merge_staypoints(staypoints, triplegs, max_time_gap="10min", agg={}):
         cond_old = cond.copy()
 
     # Staypoint-required columnsare aggregated in the following manner:
-    agg_dict = {index_name: "first", "user_id": "first", "started_at": "first", "finished_at": "last"}
+    agg_dict = {
+        index_name: "first",
+        "user_id": "first",
+        "started_at": "first",
+        "finished_at": "last",
+        "location_id": "first",
+    }
     # User-defined further aggregation
     agg_dict.update(agg)
 

diff --git a/tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py b/tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py
index 79a8745..10c4425 100644
--- a/tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py
+++ b/tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py
@@ -399,7 +399,8 @@ class TestMergeStaypoints:
         """Test staypoint merging."""
         sp, tpls = example_staypoints_merge
         # first test with empty tpls
-        merged_sp = sp.as_staypoints.merge_staypoints(tpls, agg={"geom": "first", "location_id": "first"})
+        merged_sp = sp.as_staypoints.merge_staypoints(tpls, agg={"geom": "first"})
+        merged_sp = merged_sp.reindex(columns=sp.columns)
         assert len(merged_sp) == len(sp) - 3
         # some staypoints stay the same (not merged)
         assert (merged_sp.loc[1] == sp.loc[1]).all()
@@ -458,3 +459,11 @@ class TestMergeStaypoints:
         # the geom should correspond to the first one
         assert sp.loc[7, "geom"] == merged_sp.loc[7, "geom"]
         assert sp.loc[2, "geom"] == merged_sp.loc[2, "geom"]
+
+    def test_merge_staypoints_error(self, example_staypoints_merge):
+        sp, tpls = example_staypoints_merge
+        sp.drop(columns=["location_id"], inplace=True)
+        with pytest.raises(AssertionError) as excinfo:
+            _ = sp.as_staypoints.merge_staypoints(tpls)
+
+        assert "Staypoints must contain column location_id" in str(excinfo.value)

ENH for merge_staypoints() function
The `merge_staypoints()` function in `trackintel/preprocessing/staypoints.py` would need a location_id column. I think this is not yet reflected in the docstring.

Also, the function is not yet added to the documentation.
tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestMergeStaypoints::test_merge_staypoints tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestMergeStaypoints::test_merge_staypoints_error
tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestGenerate_locations::test_empty_generation tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestGenerate_locations::test_parallel_computing tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestGenerate_locations::test_missing_link tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestGenerate_locations::test_index_stability tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestGenerate_locations::test_location_ids_and_noise tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestMergeStaypoints::test_merge_staypoints_time tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestMergeStaypoints::test_merge_staypoints_max_time_gap tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestMergeStaypoints::test_merge_staypoints_time_gap_error tests/preprocessing/test_staypoints.py::TestMergeStaypoints::test_merge_staypoints_agg