A method for manufacturing and preparing for assembly a stator core of a generator, the stator core having a central cylindrical bore along a longitudinal axis of the stator core, the method including in a first step, mounting a first press plate onto a tooling device and concomitantly and / or subsequently positioning at least one key bar to be manufactured in an axial direction with respect to the longitudinal axis in a spaced manner along a peripheral circumference of the first press plate. The method includes in a second step, stacking a plurality of generator laminations onto the first press plate and mechanically coupling the plurality of generator laminations with the at least one key bar and, in a third step, mounting a second press plate onto the plurality of generator laminations, fixing the second press plate to at least one of the at least one key bar and at least one axial fixing device and concomitantly and / or subsequently exerting axial stress on the first and the second press plates.