diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 96694d49..3a00a52d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -120,7 +120,8 @@ jobs:
           cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../install \
                    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
                    -DT8CODE_ROOT=$PWD/../t8code-local/prefix \
-                   -DENABLE_TESTING=ON -DJULIA_PROJECT_PATH=../libtrixi-julia
+                   -DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WARNINGS=ON -DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR=ON \
+                   -DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_TESTING=ON -DJULIA_PROJECT_PATH=../libtrixi-julia
 
       - name: Configure (test_type == 'coverage')
         if: ${{ matrix.test_type == 'coverage' }}
@@ -134,7 +135,8 @@ jobs:
                    -DCMAKE_Fortran_FLAGS="-cpp --coverage -O0" \
                    -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS="--coverage" \
                    -DCMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS="--coverage" \
-                   -DENABLE_TESTING=ON -DJULIA_PROJECT_PATH=../libtrixi-julia
+                   -DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WARNINGS=ON -DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR=ON \
+                   -DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_TESTING=ON -DJULIA_PROJECT_PATH=../libtrixi-julia
 
       - name: Build
         if: ${{ matrix.test_type == 'regular' || matrix.test_type == 'coverage' }}
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5376e94d..ee7a56eb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 # Specify the minimum version
 #   3.9  required for regex submatches
 #   3.12 required for policy CMP0074 (using *_ROOT variables)
-cmake_minimum_required ( VERSION 3.12 )
+#   3.13 required for policy CMP0076 (target_sources() command converts relative paths to absolute)
+cmake_minimum_required ( VERSION 3.13 )
 
 # Reconfigure if Project.toml has changed
 set_property(DIRECTORY APPEND PROPERTY CMAKE_CONFIGURE_DEPENDS "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/LibTrixi.jl/Project.toml")
@@ -23,13 +24,26 @@ file(WRITE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/LIBTRIXI_VERSION" "${LIBTRIXI_VERSION}\n")
 project ( trixi VERSION ${LIBTRIXI_VERSION_MAJOR}.${LIBTRIXI_VERSION_MINOR}.${LIBTRIXI_VERSION_PATCH}
           DESCRIPTION "Interface library for using Trixi.jl from C/C++/Fortran" )
 
-# Enable C and Fortran
-enable_language(C Fortran)
+# Additional configuration options
+option( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API "Enable the build of the Fortran interface" ON )
+option( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WARNINGS "Use compilation flags -Wall -Wextra" OFF )
+option( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR "Use compilation flag -Werror" OFF )
+option( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_TESTING "Build tests using Google Test (C) and test-drive (Fortran)" OFF )
 
-# Enabling setting rpath for installation
-SET(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH TRUE)
+# Define the warnings to use if enabled 
+set (LIBTRIXI_WARNING_OPTIONS -Wall -Wextra)
+set (LIBTRIXI_WERROR_OPTION -Werror)
 
+# Enable C always
+enable_language( C )
 
+# Optionally enable Fortran
+if( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API )
+    enable_language( Fortran )
+endif()
+
+# Enabling setting rpath for installation
+SET(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH TRUE)
 
 # Additional cmake modules
 list ( APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/" )
@@ -47,8 +61,7 @@ endif()
 find_package( MPI REQUIRED )
 
 # Find Google Test and test-drive on demand
-option( ENABLE_TESTING "Build tests using Google Test (C) and test-drive (Fortran)" )
-if( ENABLE_TESTING )
+if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_TESTING )
     if ( NOT DEFINED JULIA_PROJECT_PATH )
         message( FATAL_ERROR "JULIA_PROJECT_PATH not set, tests will not work.")
     endif()
@@ -57,22 +70,26 @@ if( ENABLE_TESTING )
 
     find_package( GTest REQUIRED )
 
-    set ( TEST_DRIVE_FIND_METHOD fetch )
-    # Option TEST_DRIVE_BUILD_TESTING is hard-coded to ON, could be spared
-    find_package( test-drive REQUIRED )
+    if( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API )
+        set ( TEST_DRIVE_FIND_METHOD fetch )
+        # Option TEST_DRIVE_BUILD_TESTING is hard-coded to ON, could be spared
+        find_package( test-drive REQUIRED )
+    endif()
 endif()
 
 # Optionally use PackageCompiler.jl to build standalone libtrixi.so
 option( USE_PACKAGE_COMPILER "Build standalone libtrixi.so using PackageCompiler.jl" )
 
-# Fortran mod file location
-set(CMAKE_Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
+if( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API )
+    # Fortran mod file location
+    set(CMAKE_Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
+endif()
 
 if( USE_PACKAGE_COMPILER )
     if ( NOT DEFINED JULIA_PROJECT_PATH )
         message( FATAL_ERROR "JULIA_PROJECT_PATH needs to be set for PackageCompiler.jl.")
     endif()
-    if ( ENABLE_TESTING )
+    if ( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_TESTING )
         message( NOTICE "Testing is not supported when PackageCompiler is used.")
     endif()
 
@@ -89,10 +106,12 @@ if( USE_PACKAGE_COMPILER )
                         COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${PC_INIT_SOURCE} ${PC_INIT_BUILD}
                         DEPENDS ${PC_INIT_SOURCE} )
 
-    # Add a library target (libtrixi), only for Fortran module
-    add_library( ${PROJECT_NAME} OBJECT
-        src/api.f90
-    )
+    if( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API )
+        # Add a library target (libtrixi), only for Fortran module
+        add_library( ${PROJECT_NAME} OBJECT
+            src/api.f90
+        )
+    endif()
 
     # Custom command to run PackageCompiler.jl to produce libtrixi.so
     add_custom_command( OUTPUT ${PC_LIBTRIXI_SO}
@@ -123,12 +142,18 @@ else()
     # Library target
     add_library ( ${PROJECT_NAME} SHARED
         src/api.c
-        src/api.f90
         src/auxiliary.h
         src/auxiliary.c
         src/trixi.h
     )
 
+    # Build Fortran library target on demand
+    if( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API )
+        target_sources (${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE
+            src/api.f90
+        )
+    endif()
+
     # Include directories, private
     target_include_directories ( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE src )
 
@@ -138,8 +163,6 @@ else()
     # Version info for the shared object
     set_target_properties ( ${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES SOVERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR} )
 
-
-
     # Include directories
     target_include_directories( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE src ${JULIA_INCLUDE_DIRS} )
 
@@ -148,14 +171,22 @@ else()
 
     # Set appropriate compile flags
     target_compile_options( ${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC "-fPIC" )
-    target_compile_options( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE -Wall -Wextra -Werror)
+
+    # Potentially, enable warnings
+    if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WARNINGS )
+        target_compile_options( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WARNING_OPTIONS})
+    endif()
+
+    # Potentially, enable to interpret warnings as errors
+    if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR )
+        target_compile_options( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WERROR_OPTION})
+    endif()
+
     # Require C11 standard with GNU extensions for C files
     target_compile_options( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:C>:-std=gnu11>)
     # Require Fortran 2018 standard for Fortran files
     target_compile_options( ${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:Fortran>:-std=f2018>)
 
-
-
     # Add auxiliary *object* library to support fast thread-local storage (TLS)
     add_library ( ${PROJECT_NAME}_tls OBJECT
         src/tls.c
@@ -163,27 +194,29 @@ else()
     target_include_directories( ${PROJECT_NAME}_tls PRIVATE ${JULIA_INCLUDE_DIRS} )
 
     # Add test on demand
-    if( ENABLE_TESTING )
+    if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_TESTING )
         enable_testing()
         add_subdirectory( test/c )
-        add_subdirectory( test/fortran )
-    endif()
 
+        if( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API )
+            add_subdirectory( test/fortran )
+        endif()
+    endif()
 
     # Install configuration
     install( FILES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:${PROJECT_NAME}_tls> TYPE LIB RENAME lib${PROJECT_NAME}_tls.o )
     install( FILES "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/LIBTRIXI_VERSION" DESTINATION share/julia )
 endif()
 
-
-
 # Public header for libtrixi
 set_target_properties ( ${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES PUBLIC_HEADER src/trixi.h )
 
 # Common install configuration
 install( TARGETS ${PROJECT_NAME} )
 install( DIRECTORY LibTrixi.jl DESTINATION share/libtrixi PATTERN "lib" EXCLUDE )
-install( FILES ${CMAKE_Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY}/libtrixi.mod TYPE INCLUDE)
+if( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API )
+    install( FILES ${CMAKE_Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY}/libtrixi.mod TYPE INCLUDE)
+endif()
 install( PROGRAMS utils/libtrixi-init-julia TYPE BIN )
 
 # Add examples
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 771d1ae0..850eba3b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ For building, `cmake` and its typical workflow is used.
     - Specifying the directory `install_directory` for later installation is optional.
     - Optional specification of build type sets some default compiler options for optimized
       or debug code.
+    - By default the Fortran-Interface is built; it may be excluded with `DLIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API=OFF`.
+    - Optional compiler options `-Wall -Wextra` are specified with `-DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WARNINGS=ON`.
+    - Optional compiler option `-Werror` is specified with `-DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR=ON`.
+    - Building of the test is enabled with `-DLIBTRIXI_ENABLE_TESTING=ON`.
     - Building with t8code support is optional. It requires to pass
       `-DT8CODE_ROOT=<t8code_install_directory>`.
 
diff --git a/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index 508fb4bf..2c4edcb2 100644
--- a/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ if ( NOT T8CODE_FOUND )
     list( FILTER EXAMPLES EXCLUDE REGEX "trixi_controller_baroclinic.*" )
 endif()
 
+if (NOT LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API)
+    # Remove Fortran files if the the Fortran API is not build
+    list( FILTER EXAMPLES EXCLUDE REGEX ".*\.f90" )
+endif()
+
 foreach ( EXAMPLE ${EXAMPLES} )
 
     get_filename_component ( EXAMPLE_EXT ${EXAMPLE} EXT )
@@ -53,7 +58,9 @@ foreach ( EXAMPLE ${EXAMPLES} )
         ${TARGET_NAME}
         PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src
     )
-    if ( T8CODE_FOUND )
+
+    if ( LIBTRIXI_BUILD_FORTRAN_API AND T8CODE_FOUND )
+        # Add the t8code include directory of the Fortran module file for the Fortran compiler to find the module files 
         target_include_directories( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE ${T8CODE_ROOT}/include/t8_fortran_interface/ )
     endif()
 
@@ -66,8 +73,14 @@ foreach ( EXAMPLE ${EXAMPLES} )
     # position independent code
     target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE "-fPIC" )
 
-    # enable warnings
-    target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE -Wall -Wextra -Werror )
+    # Potentially, enable all warnings
+    if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_ALL_WARNINGS )
+        target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WARNING_OPTIONS})
+    endif()
+    # Potentially, enable to interpret warnings as errors
+    if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR )
+        target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WERROR_OPTION})
+    endif()
 
     # add to installation
     install( TARGETS ${TARGET_NAME} )
diff --git a/test/c/CMakeLists.txt b/test/c/CMakeLists.txt
index b532d823..52e8d4ec 100644
--- a/test/c/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/c/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -32,8 +32,15 @@ foreach ( TEST ${TESTS} )
         PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src
     )
 
-    # enable warnings
-    target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE -Wall -Wextra -Werror )
+    # Potentially, enable warnings
+    if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WARNINGS )
+        target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WARNING_OPTIONS})
+    endif()
+
+    # Potentially, enable to interpret warnings as errors
+    if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR )
+        target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WERROR_OPTION})
+    endif()
 
     # pass julia project path
     target_compile_definitions( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE 
diff --git a/test/fortran/CMakeLists.txt b/test/fortran/CMakeLists.txt
index 5b6ee0b3..1fecb305 100644
--- a/test/fortran/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/fortran/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,7 +38,17 @@ if ( T8CODE_FOUND )
 endif()
 
 # enable warnings
-target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE -cpp -Wall -Wextra -Werror -Wno-uninitialized )
+target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE -cpp -Wno-uninitialized )
+
+# Potentially, enable warnings
+if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WARNINGS )
+    target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WARNING_OPTIONS})
+endif()
+
+# Potentially, enable to interpret warnings as errors
+if( LIBTRIXI_ENABLE_WERROR )
+    target_compile_options( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE ${LIBTRIXI_WERROR_OPTION})
+endif()
 
 # pass julia project path
 target_compile_definitions( ${TARGET_NAME} PRIVATE