A method for the classification of objects (16) and/or the recognition of their position and/or their orientation in space is set forth, wherein measurement object data points of a measurement object surface are generated using a distance resolving receiver unit (18) and, with the aid of model object data determined in advance, hypotheses on the class, the position and/or the orientation of a measurement object (16) are proposed and verified from the measurement object data points. A plurality of different hypothesis tests can be executed cascaded in such a way that only on verification of a hypothesis through a hypothesis test is a subsequent hypothesis test carried out within this cascade, until either a hypothesis is falsified by the failure of a hypothesis test or a hypothesis is verified as a whole through a complete run through a cascade without falsification.