An open source framework for general gesture recognition is presented and tested with isolated signs of sign language. Other than common systems for sign language recognition, this framework makes use of Kinect, a depth camera which makes real-time 3D-reconstruction easily applicable. Recognition is done using hidden Markov models with a continuous observation density. The framework also offers an easy way of initializing and training new gestures or signs by performing them several times in front of the camera. First results with a recognition rate of 97% show that depth cameras are well-suited for sign language recognition