Q about static class data for dll import

[Albrecht Fritzsche]

Having in a dll project header

#ifdef SHAPE_EXPORTS
#define SHAPE_API __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define SHAPE_API __declspec(dllimport)
#endif
class SHAPE_API ShapeMaker
{
protected:
typedef std::map<std::string, ShapeMaker*> MakerMap;
static MakerMap registry;
....
};

I receive the following error (my own translation from the german output)
error C2491: 'ShapeMaker::registry'
"definition of static data for dllimport not allowed"

Hence my question - is it not possible to import classes with static data
members into an application?

Thanks for your help
Ali