var http_request_big = false;

function doRequest(url) {

        if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari,...
           http_request_big = new XMLHttpRequest();
            if (http_request_big.overrideMimeType) {
                http_request_big.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
                // zu dieser Zeile siehe weiter unten
            }
        } else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE
            try {
                http_request_big = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
            } catch (e) {
                try {
                    http_request_big = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
                } catch (e) {}
            }
        }

        if (!http_request_big) {
            alert('Ende :( Kann keine XMLHTTP-Instanz erzeugen');
            return false;
        }
        http_request_big.onreadystatechange = setbig;
        http_request_big.open('GET', url, true);
        http_request_big.send(null);
    }

function setbig() {

        if (http_request_big.readyState == 4) {
            if (http_request_big.status == 200) {
                //alert(http_request.responseText);
                document.getElementById('counter').innerHTML = http_request_big.responseText;
            } else {
                //alert('Bei dem Request ist ein Problem aufgetreten.');
            }
        }

    }