diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f791a79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+myenv
+env
+/env
+db.sqlite3
+.env
+secret.env
+/data
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f8ca38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+name: Build and publish Docker image
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+
+env:
+  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
+  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}
+
+jobs:
+  build-deploy:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2
+
+      - name: Log in to the Container registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v2
+        with:
+          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Extract metadata (tags, labels) for Docker
+        id: meta
+        uses: docker/metadata-action@v4
+        with:
+          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
+
+      - name: Build and push Docker image
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v4
+        with:
+          context: .
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
+          cache-from: type=gha
+          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90c9dfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+FROM python:3.11-buster
+
+# install nginx posgtes and gdal
+RUN apt-get update -y && apt-get upgrade -y && apt-get install nginx vim \
+    postgresql-common libpq-dev python3-gdal -y
+RUN ln -sf /dev/stdout /var/log/nginx/access.log \
+    && ln -sf /dev/stderr /var/log/nginx/error.log
+
+COPY nginx.default /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
+# copy source and install dependencies
+
+RUN mkdir -p /opt/app
+COPY requirements.txt start-server.sh /opt/app/
+RUN pip install -U pip \
+    && pip install -r /opt/app/requirements.txt --no-cache-dir \
+    && pip install gunicorn --no-cache-dir
+COPY . /opt/app
+WORKDIR /opt/app
+RUN chown -R www-data:www-data /opt/app
+
+# start server
+EXPOSE 80
+STOPSIGNAL SIGTERM
+CMD ["/opt/app/start-server.sh"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b16d335..d554eac 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,30 +1,31 @@
-DEFC-App
-=====
-
-About DEFC-App 
---------------
+# DEFC-App
 
 DEFC stands for Digitizing Early Farming Cultures, a project conducted by the [Austrian Academy of
 Sciences](http://www.orea.oeaw.ac.at/go-digital.html). The DEFC-App is an application for curating, exploring, and retrieving archaeological datasets.
 
-Install
--------
+## install
+
+* clone the repo
+* change into the project's root directory e.g. `cd defc-app`
+* create a virtual environment e.g. `virutalenv env` and activate it `source env/bin/activate`
+* install required packages `pip install -r requirements_dev.txt`
+* run migrations `python manage.py migrate`
+* start the dev sever `python manage.py runserver`
+* go to [http://127.0.0.1:8000](http://127.0.0.1:8000/) and check if everything works
+
+
+## Docker
+
+At the ACDH-CH we use a centralized database-server. So instead of spawning a database for each service our services are talking to a database on this centralized db-server. This setup is reflected in the dockerized setting as well, meaning it expects an already existing database (either on your host, e.g. accessible via 'localhost' or some remote one)
+
+### building the image
 
-The DEFC-App is based on [Django 1.8](https://www.djangoproject.com/) and was developed and tested with Python 3.4. 
+* `docker build -t defc:latest .`
+* `docker build -t defc:latest --no-cache .`
 
-1. Clone the repository and check out the master branch which holds the latest stable version.
-2. Change to the project´s root directory.
-3. Create a virtual environment. 
-4. Run `pip install -r requirements.txt` to install all required packages.
-5. Change directory into `orea/settings/` and adept `dummysettings.py` according to your custom database.
-6. Open a terminal, change to the project´s root directory.
-7. Run `python manage.py runserver --settings=orea.settings.dummysettings`
-8. Open a browser of your choice and enter [http://127.0.0.1:8000/defcdb/](http://127.0.0.1:8000/defcdb/). 
-9. If everything worked out, you should see something like on this [demo-page](http://defc.eos.arz.oeaw.ac.at/defcdb/)
 
-Import controlled vocabularies
-------------------------------
+### running the image
 
-On of the main assets of the DEFC-App is its carefully curtated controlled vocabulary which helps keeping the different datasets as homogeneous as possible. 
+To run the image you should provide an `.env` file to pass in needed environment variables; see example below:
 
-1. more to come....
\ No newline at end of file
+* `docker run -it -p 8020:8020 --rm --env-file docker.env--name defc defc:latest`
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
deleted file mode 100644
index b16d335..0000000
--- a/Readme.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-DEFC-App
-=====
-
-About DEFC-App 
---------------
-
-DEFC stands for Digitizing Early Farming Cultures, a project conducted by the [Austrian Academy of
-Sciences](http://www.orea.oeaw.ac.at/go-digital.html). The DEFC-App is an application for curating, exploring, and retrieving archaeological datasets.
-
-Install
--------
-
-The DEFC-App is based on [Django 1.8](https://www.djangoproject.com/) and was developed and tested with Python 3.4. 
-
-1. Clone the repository and check out the master branch which holds the latest stable version.
-2. Change to the project´s root directory.
-3. Create a virtual environment. 
-4. Run `pip install -r requirements.txt` to install all required packages.
-5. Change directory into `orea/settings/` and adept `dummysettings.py` according to your custom database.
-6. Open a terminal, change to the project´s root directory.
-7. Run `python manage.py runserver --settings=orea.settings.dummysettings`
-8. Open a browser of your choice and enter [http://127.0.0.1:8000/defcdb/](http://127.0.0.1:8000/defcdb/). 
-9. If everything worked out, you should see something like on this [demo-page](http://defc.eos.arz.oeaw.ac.at/defcdb/)
-
-Import controlled vocabularies
-------------------------------
-
-On of the main assets of the DEFC-App is its carefully curtated controlled vocabulary which helps keeping the different datasets as homogeneous as possible. 
-
-1. more to come....
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker.env b/docker.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0410b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker.env
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+DEBUG=True
+POSTGRES_DB=defc
+#POSTGRES_USER=postgres
+#POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
+POSTGRES_HOST=172.17.0.1
+#PORT=5432
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nginx.default b/nginx.default
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b9ae7e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nginx.default
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+server {
+    listen 8020;
+    client_max_body_size 10M;
+
+    location /static/ {
+        autoindex on;
+        alias /opt/app/staticfiles/;
+    }
+
+    location /media/ {
+        autoindex on;
+        alias /opt/app/media/;
+    }
+
+    location / {
+        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8010;
+        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/orea/settings.py b/orea/settings.py
index 5ddb76a..2059c77 100644
--- a/orea/settings.py
+++ b/orea/settings.py
@@ -130,8 +130,6 @@
     "exclude": {"auth": ["user"]},
 }
 
-MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "media")
-MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
 # Internationalization
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/topics/i18n/
 
@@ -149,4 +147,7 @@
 # Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/static-files/
 
+STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "staticfiles/")
 STATIC_URL = "/static/"
+MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "media/")
+MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
diff --git a/orea/wsgi.py b/orea/wsgi.py
index 7c27e6a..b37c8b6 100644
--- a/orea/wsgi.py
+++ b/orea/wsgi.py
@@ -1,16 +1,6 @@
-"""
-WSGI config for orea project.
-
-It exposes the WSGI callable as a module-level variable named ``application``.
-
-For more information on this file, see
-https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/deployment/wsgi/
-"""
-
 import os
-
 from django.core.wsgi import get_wsgi_application
 
-os.environ["DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE"] = "orea.settings.server"
-# os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "mysite.settings") #thats the default settings
+
+os.environ["DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE"] = "orea.settings"
 application = get_wsgi_application()
diff --git a/start-server.sh b/start-server.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b6c2708
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start-server.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# start-server.sh
+echo "Hello from Project DEFC"
+python manage.py collectstatic --no-input
+if [ -n "$MIGRATE" ] ; then
+    (echo "making migrations and running them"
+    python manage.py makemigrations --no-input
+    python manage.py migrate --no-input)
+fi
+if [ -n "$DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME" ] && [ -n "$DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD" ] ; then
+    (echo "creating superuser ${DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME}" && python manage.py createsuperuser --no-input --noinput --email 'blank@email.com')
+fi
+gunicorn orea.wsgi --user www-data --bind 0.0.0.0:8010 --workers 3 & nginx -g "daemon off;"