diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d900dee..d106f14 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ config.yml
 .bundle/
 db/*.sqlite3
 
+.rvmrc
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 1b0f62c..08ef1cf 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ gem "rake"
 group :development do
   gem "shotgun"
   gem "sqlite3-ruby", "~> 1.3.3", :require => "sqlite3"
+  # test dependencies
+  gem "rack-test"
+  gem "assert_json"
+  gem "turn"
+  gem "shoulda-context"
+  gem "factory_girl", "~> 2.2.0"
+  gem "database_cleaner"
 end
 
 group :production do
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index abaf85a..042795b 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -11,19 +11,28 @@ GEM
       arel (~> 2.0.2)
       tzinfo (~> 0.3.23)
     activesupport (3.0.6)
+    ansi (1.3.0)
     arel (2.0.9)
+    assert_json (0.1.1)
+      activesupport
     authlogic (2.1.6)
       activesupport
     builder (2.1.2)
     daemons (1.1.4)
+    database_cleaner (0.7.0)
     eventmachine (0.12.10)
+    factory_girl (2.2.0)
+      activesupport
     i18n (0.5.0)
     json (1.5.1)
     mysql (2.8.1)
     rack (1.2.2)
+    rack-test (0.6.0)
+      rack (>= 1.0)
     rake (0.8.7)
     shotgun (0.9)
       rack (>= 1.0)
+    shoulda-context (1.0.0.beta1)
     sinatra (1.2.3)
       rack (~> 1.1)
       tilt (>= 1.2.2, < 2.0)
@@ -35,6 +44,8 @@ GEM
       eventmachine (>= 0.12.6)
       rack (>= 1.0.0)
     tilt (1.2.2)
+    turn (0.8.2)
+      ansi (>= 1.2.2)
     tzinfo (0.3.26)
 
 PLATFORMS
@@ -42,11 +53,17 @@ PLATFORMS
 
 DEPENDENCIES
   activerecord (~> 3.0.6)
+  assert_json
   authlogic
+  database_cleaner
+  factory_girl (~> 2.2.0)
   json (~> 1.5.1)
   mysql (~> 2.8.1)
+  rack-test
   rake
   shotgun
+  shoulda-context
   sinatra
   sqlite3-ruby (~> 1.3.3)
   thin
+  turn
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 0f4b6ef..4f9c8e2 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -4,3 +4,14 @@ require 'authlogic'
 require 'tasks/db'
 require 'tasks/permissions'
 
+require 'rake'
+require 'rake/testtask'
+
+
+desc "Run all tests"
+Rake::TestTask.new do |t|
+  t.libs << "test"
+  t.test_files = FileList['test/*_test.rb']
+  t.ruby_opts = ['-r test_helper']
+end
+
diff --git a/database_example.yml b/database_example.yml
index 8c94c7f..756a12b 100644
--- a/database_example.yml
+++ b/database_example.yml
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
-#example for mysql
-#database: api
-#adapter: mysql
-#host: localhost
-#username: db_user
-#password: db_pass
-#encoding: utf8
+development:
+  adapter: sqlite3
+  database: db/development.sqlite3
+  pool: 5
+  timeout: 5000
+
+test:
+  adapter: sqlite3
+  database: db/test.sqlite3
 
-#example for sqlite3
-#adapter: sqlite3
-#database: db/development.sqlite3
-#pool: 5
-#timeout: 5000
 
diff --git a/lib/assertions.rb b/lib/assertions.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28b72b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/assertions.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+module Api
+  module Assertions
+
+    def assert_status(expected, response=last_response)
+      assert_equal expected, response.status, "Expected a #{expected} status, got #{response.status} instead"
+    end
+
+    def assert_body(json_string=last_response.body, &block)
+      assert_json(json_string, &block)
+    end
+
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/lib/config.rb b/lib/config.rb
index f361654..bf6a038 100644
--- a/lib/config.rb
+++ b/lib/config.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ def connection
   end
 end
 
-ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(YAML.load_file(APP_ROOT + '/database.yml'))
+db_config = YAML.load_file(APP_ROOT + '/database.yml')[settings.environment.to_s]
+
+ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(db_config)
 
 require APP_ROOT + '/lib/models.rb'
 require APP_ROOT + '/lib/helpers.rb'
diff --git a/tasks/db.rb b/tasks/db.rb
index b08b3b4..01bf7c4 100644
--- a/tasks/db.rb
+++ b/tasks/db.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-config = YAML.load_file('database.yml')
+env    = ENV['RACK_ENV'] || "development"
+config = YAML.load_file('database.yml')[env]
 
 #code borrowed from here: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/master/activerecord/lib/active_record/railties/databases.rake
 
diff --git a/tasks/permissions.rb b/tasks/permissions.rb
index 698eccb..d1fcace 100644
--- a/tasks/permissions.rb
+++ b/tasks/permissions.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-config = YAML.load_file('database.yml')
+env    = ENV['RACK_ENV'] || "development"
+config = YAML.load_file('database.yml')[env]
 
 namespace :permissions do
   desc "Looks up all columns from tables beginning with data_ and creates CRUD Permissions for them"
diff --git a/test/base_test.rb b/test/base_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..443449a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/base_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+class BaseTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  context "GET '/'" do
+    setup { get '/' }
+
+    should "return an error" do
+      assert_status 400
+      assert_body { |json| json.element "error", "Wrong url format." }
+    end
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/test/district_test.rb b/test/district_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..326587f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/district_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+class DistrictTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  def setup
+    super
+    @source = '/district'
+    api_user.permissions = create_permissions_for(District, :read)
+    FactoryGirl.create(:district, :number => 1, :name => "Zentrum")
+    FactoryGirl.create(:district, :number => 2, :name => "West")
+  end
+
+  test :get, '/districts' do
+    assert_status 200
+    assert_equal 2, last_result["data"].size
+  end
+
+  test :get, '/districts/1' do
+    assert_status 200
+    assert_json(last_response.body) do
+      has "id", 1
+      has "number", 1
+      has "name", "Zentrum"
+      has "created_at"
+      has "updated_at"
+    end
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/test/factories.rb b/test/factories.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de9a89a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/factories.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+FactoryGirl.define do
+
+  factory :user do
+    email               "test@example.com"
+    #password_salt       { Authlogic::Random.hex_token }
+    #crypted_password    { Authlogic::CryptoProviders::Sha512.encrypt("test1234" + password_salt) }
+    single_access_token { Authlogic::Random.friendly_token }
+    persistence_token   { Authlogic::Random.hex_token }
+    perishable_token    { Authlogic::Random.friendly_token }
+    password "test"
+    password_confirmation "test"
+  end
+
+  factory :permission do
+    # nothing
+  end
+
+  factory :district do
+    sequence(:name)   {|n| "district-#{n}"}
+    sequence(:number)
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..206d95b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# add /lib to loadpath
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift File.expand_path("../lib", File.dirname(__FILE__))
+
+ENV['RACK_ENV'] = 'test'
+
+require 'api'
+require 'test/unit'
+require 'assert_json'
+require 'rack/test'
+require 'turn'
+require 'shoulda-context'
+require 'assertions'
+require 'factory_girl'
+require 'authlogic/test_case'
+require 'factories'
+require 'database_cleaner'
+
+
+DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
+DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
+
+
+class Test::Unit::TestCase
+  include Rack::Test::Methods
+  include AssertJson
+  include Api::Assertions
+
+  def setup
+    DatabaseCleaner.start
+  end
+
+  def teardown
+    DatabaseCleaner.clean
+  end
+
+  def app
+    Sinatra::Application
+  end
+
+  #
+  # some dslish test stuff
+  #
+
+  def self.test(verb, resource, &block)
+    define_method :"test #{verb.to_s.upcase} to \'#{resource}\'" do
+      send(verb, [@source, resource].join)
+      instance_eval(&block)
+    end
+
+  end
+
+  #
+  # helper and utility functions for testing
+  #
+
+  # creates and returns permissions of the given access type for all columns of the given model 
+  def create_permissions_for(klass, access)
+    _, source, table = klass.table_name.split("_")
+    klass.column_names.map do |cname|
+      FactoryGirl.create(:permission, :access => access, :source => source, :table => table, :column => cname)
+    end
+  end
+
+  # shortcut to the parsed JSON body of the last_response
+  def last_result
+    JSON.parse(last_response.body)
+  end
+
+  # returns the current @user or creates one with default values via FactoryGirl
+  def api_user
+    @user ||= FactoryGirl.create(:user)
+  end
+
+  # returns the api_user's api_key
+  def api_key
+    api_user && api_user.single_access_token
+  end
+
+  # override rack-test's get method in order to add some default values
+  def get(url, opts={})
+    opts[:api_key] ||= api_key
+    super(url, opts)
+  end
+
+end