diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cdd8d24..60b5d08 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
 /.venv/
 /node_modules/
 
+# Local development database
+/.postgres/
+/.omnidb/
+
 # Cache files and directories
 *.pyc
 __pycache__/
diff --git a/backend/config.py b/backend/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b459467
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import os
+from urllib.parse import quote_plus as url_encode
+from functools import lru_cache
+
+from pydantic import BaseSettings, PostgresDsn
+
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    """Contains application-specific configuration values.
+
+    Reads the values from environment variables and falls back to default values
+    if the corresponding environment variable is unset.
+    """
+
+    app_name: str = os.getenv("APP_NAME", "MEDWingS")
+    admin_email: str = os.getenv("ADMIN_EMAIL", "admin@example.com")
+
+    debug_mode: bool = False
+    if os.getenv("DEBUG_MODE", "false").lower() == "true":
+        debug_mode = True
+
+    _pg_hostname = os.getenv("POSTGRES_HOST", "db")
+    _pg_port = os.getenv("POSTGRES_PORT", "5432")
+    _pg_dbname = os.getenv("POSTGRES_DB", "medwings")
+    _pg_user = url_encode(os.getenv("POSTGRES_USER", "medwings"))
+    _pg_password = url_encode(os.getenv("POSTGRES_PASSWORD", "medwings"))
+    pg_dsn: PostgresDsn = f"postgresql://{_pg_user}:{_pg_password}@{_pg_hostname}:{_pg_port}/{_pg_dbname}"
+
+
+@lru_cache
+def get_settings() -> Settings:
+    """Creates the settings once and returns a cached version on subsequent requests."""
+
+    return Settings()
diff --git a/backend/crud.py b/backend/crud.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f5e889
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/crud.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+import logging
+from datetime import datetime
+
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
+
+from .import models, schemas
+
+log = logging.getLogger()
+
+
+def hash_password(password: str) -> str:
+    # TODO actually hash the password!
+    return password
+
+
+def _fill_missing_user_fields(db_user: models.User) -> schemas.User:
+    full_user = schemas.User.from_orm(db_user)
+    if db_user.patient:
+        full_user.gender = db_user.patient.gender
+        full_user.date_of_birth = db_user.patient.date_of_birth
+        full_user.is_patient = True
+        full_user.is_admin = False
+    else:
+        full_user.is_patient = False
+        full_user.is_admin = True
+
+    return full_user
+
+
+def create_user(db: Session, user: schemas.UserCreate):
+    """Creates a new user as either a patient or an administrator."""
+
+    db_user = models.User(
+        email=user.email,
+        first_name=user.first_name,
+        last_name=user.last_name,
+        password=hash_password(user.password),
+    )
+
+    # Add user to database
+    if user.is_patient:
+        db_patient = models.Patient(
+            user=db_user,
+            gender=user.gender,
+            date_of_birth=user.date_of_birth,
+        )
+        db.add(db_patient)
+    else:
+        db_administrator = models.Administrator(
+            user=db_user,
+        )
+        db.add(db_administrator)
+
+    db.commit()
+
+    # Construct the updated user to return
+    db.refresh(db_user)
+    return _fill_missing_user_fields(db_user)
+
+
+def read_user(db: Session, id: int):
+    db_user = db.query(models.User).filter(models.User.id == id).first()
+    if not db_user:
+        return None
+
+    return _fill_missing_user_fields(db_user)
+
+
+def read_user_by_email(db: Session, email: str):
+    db_user = db.query(models.User).filter(models.User.email == email).first()
+    if not db_user:
+        return None
+    
+    return _fill_missing_user_fields(db_user)
+
+
+def read_users(db: Session, skip: int = 0, limit: int = 100):
+    db_users = db.query(models.User).offset(skip).limit(limit).all()
+    
+    full_users = []
+    for db_user in db_users:
+        full_users.append(_fill_missing_user_fields(db_user))
+    return full_users
+
+
+def update_user(db: Session, user: schemas.UserUpdate, id: int):
+    db_user = db.query(models.User).filter(models.User.id == id).first()
+    current_user = _fill_missing_user_fields(db_user)
+
+    for key in ['gender', 'date_of_birth']:
+        value = getattr(user, key)
+        if value is not None:
+            setattr(db_user.patient, key, value)
+    for key in ['email', 'first_name', 'last_name']:
+        value = getattr(user, key)
+        if value is not None:
+            setattr(db_user, key, value)
+    if user.password is not None:
+        db_user.password = hash_password(user.password)
+
+    db.commit()
+    db.refresh(db_user)
+    return _fill_missing_user_fields(db_user)
+
+
+def delete_user(db: Session, id: int):
+    db_user = db.query(models.User).filter(models.User.id == id).first()
+    user_copy = _fill_missing_user_fields(db_user)
+
+    db.delete(db_user)
+    db.commit()
+
+    user_copy.updated = datetime.now(user_copy.updated.tzinfo)
+    return user_copy
diff --git a/backend/database.py b/backend/database.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..419a3d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/database.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
+
+from .config import get_settings
+
+engine = create_engine(
+    get_settings().pg_dsn,          # Get connection string from global settings
+    echo=get_settings().debug_mode  # Get debugmode status from global settings
+)
+SessionLocal = sessionmaker(engine)
+
+Base = declarative_base()
diff --git a/backend/main.py b/backend/main.py
index ceeb113..b3c2674 100644
--- a/backend/main.py
+++ b/backend/main.py
@@ -1,8 +1,66 @@
-from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
+import logging
 
+from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
+
+from . import crud, models, schemas
+from.database import engine, SessionLocal
+
+
+log = logging.getLogger()
+
+models.Base.metadata.create_all(bind=engine)
 
 app = FastAPI()
 
+
+def get_db():
+    db = SessionLocal()
+    try:
+        yield db
+    finally:
+        db.close()
+
+
 @app.get("/hello/")
-async def hello() -> str:
+def hello():
     return "Hello World!"
+
+
+@app.post("/users/", response_model=schemas.User)
+def create_user(user: schemas.UserCreate, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
+    existing_user = crud.read_user_by_email(db, email=user.email)
+    if existing_user:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="A user with this email address is already registered.")
+
+    return crud.create_user(db=db, user=user)
+
+
+@app.get("/users/{id}", response_model=schemas.User)
+def read_user(id: int, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
+    user = crud.read_user(db=db, id=id)
+    if not user:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=f"No user with id '{id}' found.")
+    return user
+
+
+@app.get("/users/", response_model=list[schemas.User])
+def read_users(skip: int = 0, limit: int = 100, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
+    users = crud.read_users(db=db, skip=skip, limit=limit)
+    return users
+
+
+@app.patch("/users/{id}", response_model=schemas.User)
+def update_user(id: int, user: schemas.UserUpdate, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
+    current_user = crud.read_user(db=db, id=id)
+    if not current_user:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=f"No user with id '{id}' found.")
+    return crud.update_user(db=db, user=user, id=id)
+
+
+@app.delete("/users/{id}", response_model=schemas.User)
+def delete_user(id: int, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
+    user = crud.read_user(db=db, id=id)
+    if not user:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=f"No user with id '{id}' found.")
+    return crud.delete_user(db=db, id=id)
diff --git a/backend/models.py b/backend/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2029665
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import enum
+
+from sqlalchemy import Column, ForeignKey, Integer, String, DateTime, Date, Enum, CheckConstraint
+from sqlalchemy.sql.functions import now
+from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship
+
+from .database import Base
+
+
+class User(Base):
+    __tablename__ = "users"
+
+    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True, autoincrement=True, index=True)
+    email = Column(String, unique=True, nullable=False)
+    password = Column(String, nullable=False)
+    created = Column(DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=False, server_default=now())
+    updated = Column(DateTime(timezone=True), nullable=False, server_default=now(), onupdate=now())
+    first_name = Column(String, nullable=False)
+    last_name = Column(String, nullable=False)
+
+    administrator = relationship("Administrator", back_populates="user", uselist=False, cascade="all, delete")
+    patient = relationship("Patient", back_populates="user", uselist=False, cascade="all, delete")
+    #patient = Column(Integer, ForeignKey('patients.id'), nullable=True)
+    #CheckConstraint("(administrator=NULL AND patient!=NULL) OR (administrator!=NULL AND patient=NULL)")
+
+
+class Administrator(Base):
+    __tablename__ = "administrators"
+
+    user_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey('users.id', ondelete="CASCADE"), primary_key=True,)
+    user = relationship("User", back_populates="administrator", uselist=False, cascade="all, delete")
+
+
+class Gender(enum.Enum):
+    male = 'm'
+    female = 'f'
+
+
+class Patient(Base):
+    __tablename__ = "patients"
+
+    user_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey('users.id', ondelete="CASCADE"), primary_key=True)
+    user = relationship("User", back_populates="patient", uselist=False, cascade="all, delete")
+    date_of_birth = Column(Date, nullable=False)
+    gender = Column(Enum(Gender), nullable=False)
diff --git a/backend/schemas.py b/backend/schemas.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cf7051
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/schemas.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+from datetime import datetime, date
+from abc import ABC
+from typing import Optional
+
+from pydantic import BaseModel, validator
+
+from .models import Gender
+
+
+class AbstractUserInfoValidation(BaseModel, ABC):
+    @validator('email', check_fields=False)
+    def assert_email_is_valid(cls, email):
+        if email is not None:
+            if not len(email):
+                raise ValueError("Email must not be empty.")
+            # TODO implement more robust check
+        return email
+
+    @validator('first_name', check_fields=False)
+    def assert_first_name_is_valid(cls, first_name):
+        if first_name is not None:
+            if not len(first_name):
+                raise ValueError("First Name must not be empty.")
+        return first_name
+
+    @validator('last_name', check_fields=False)
+    def assert_last_name_is_valid(cls, last_name):
+        if last_name is not None:
+            if not len(last_name):
+                raise ValueError("Last Name must not be empty.")
+        return last_name
+
+    @validator('date_of_birth', check_fields=False)
+    def assert_dob_is_valid(cls, dob):
+        if dob is not None:
+            if dob >= date.today():
+                raise ValueError("Date of birth cannot be in the future.")
+        return dob
+
+class AbstractUser(AbstractUserInfoValidation, ABC):
+    email: str
+    first_name: str
+    last_name: str
+
+    gender: Optional[Gender]
+    date_of_birth: Optional[date]
+    is_patient: Optional[bool]
+
+    is_admin: Optional[bool]
+
+    @validator('is_admin')
+    def assert_tegridy(cls, is_admin, values):
+        if values['is_patient']:
+            if is_admin:
+                raise ValueError('User cannot be both patient and admin.')
+            for key in ['gender', 'date_of_birth']:
+                if key not in values or values[key] is None:
+                    raise ValueError(f"Must specify key '{key}' for patients.")
+        if not values['is_patient'] and not is_admin:
+            raise ValueError(f'User must either be patient or admin.')
+        return is_admin
+
+
+class UserCreate(AbstractUser):
+    password: str
+    password_confirmation: str
+
+    @validator('password_confirmation')
+    def assert_passwords_match(cls, password_confirmation, values):
+        if not password_confirmation == values['password']:
+            raise ValueError("Passwords do not match.")
+        if len(password_confirmation) < 1:
+            # TODO use more robust password rules
+            raise ValueError("Password must not be empty.")
+        return password_confirmation
+
+
+class UserUpdate(AbstractUserInfoValidation):
+    email: Optional[str]
+    first_name: Optional[str]
+    last_name: Optional[str]
+
+    gender: Optional[Gender]
+    date_of_birth: Optional[date]
+
+    password: Optional[str] = None
+    password_confirmation: Optional[str] = None
+
+    @validator('password_confirmation')
+    def assert_passwords_match_or_are_both_none(cls, password_confirmation, values):
+        password = values.get('password')
+        if None not in [password, password_confirmation]:
+            if not password == password_confirmation:
+                raise ValueError("Passwords do not match.")
+            if len(password_confirmation) < 1:
+                # TODO use more robust password rules
+                raise ValueError("Password must not be empty.")
+        return password_confirmation
+
+
+class User(AbstractUser):
+    id: int
+    created: datetime
+    updated: datetime
+
+    class Config:
+        orm_mode = True
diff --git a/development.docker-compose.yml b/development.docker-compose.yml
index 5757627..2d393ef 100644
--- a/development.docker-compose.yml
+++ b/development.docker-compose.yml
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ services:
   frontend:
     container_name: frontend
     restart: unless-stopped
+    depends_on:
+      - parcel
     build:
       context: .
       dockerfile: ./development.frontend.Dockerfile
@@ -19,7 +21,7 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./public/:/app/public/:ro
       - ./robots/:/app/robots/:ro
-      - ./Caddyfile:/app/Caddyfile:ro
+      - ./development.Caddyfile:/app/Caddyfile:ro
   parcel:
     container_name: parcel
     restart: unless-stopped
@@ -39,6 +41,9 @@ services:
   backend:
     container_name: backend
     restart: unless-stopped
+    depends_on:
+      - frontend
+      - db
     build:
       context: .
       dockerfile: ./development.backend.Dockerfile
@@ -50,5 +55,36 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./backend/:/app/backend/:ro
       - ./requirements.txt:/app/requirements.txt:ro
+    environment:
+      APP_NAME: "MEDWingS"
+      ADMIN_EMAIL: "admin@example.com"
+      DEBUG_MODE: "true"
+      POSTGRES_HOST: "db"
+      POSTGRES_PORT: "5432"
+      POSTGRES_DB: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_USER: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "medwings"
+  db:
+    image: postgres
+    container_name: db
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    expose:
+      - "5432"
+    volumes:
+      - ./.postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_DB: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_USER: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "medwings"
+  pgweb:
+    image: sosedoff/pgweb
+    container_name: pgweb
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    depends_on:
+      - db
+    ports:
+      - "8001:8081"
+    environment:
+      DATABSE_URL: "postgres://medwings:medwings@db:5432/medwings?sslmode=disable"
 
 ...
diff --git a/production.docker-compose.yml b/production.docker-compose.yml
index ac8620a..03a1c8c 100644
--- a/production.docker-compose.yml
+++ b/production.docker-compose.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ services:
       args:
         CUSTOM_UID: 1000
         CUSTOM_GID: 1000
+    networks:
+      - proxy
+      - medwings
     environment:
       TZ: Europe/Berlin
     ports:
@@ -25,7 +28,38 @@ services:
       args:
         CUSTOM_UID: 1000
         CUSTOM_GID: 1000
+    networks:
+      - medwings
     expose:
       - "3001"
+    environment:
+      APP_NAME: "MEDWingS"
+      ADMIN_EMAIL: "admin@example.com"
+      DEBUG_MODE: "true"
+      POSTGRES_HOST: "db"
+      POSTGRES_PORT: "5432"
+      POSTGRES_DB: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_USER: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "medwings"
+  db:
+    image: postgres
+    container_name: db
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    networks:
+      - medwings
+    expose:
+      - "5432"
+    volumes:
+      - /srv/medwings/db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_DB: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_USER: "medwings"
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "medwings"
+
+networks:
+  proxy:
+    external: true
+  medwings:
+    external: false
 
 ...
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 5075bec..16ce17a 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 anyio==3.6.2
+asyncpg==0.27.0
 click==8.1.3
 fastapi==0.88.0
+greenlet==2.0.2
 h11==0.14.0
 httptools==0.5.0
 idna==3.4
+psycopg2-binary==2.9.6
 pydantic==1.10.4
 python-dotenv==0.21.0
 PyYAML==6.0
 sniffio==1.3.0
+SQLAlchemy==2.0.13
 starlette==0.22.0
 typing_extensions==4.4.0
 uvicorn==0.20.0