diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a8533c2..81a5e7b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-# Create .gitignore (if not already present)
-echo "# Dependencies
+# Dependencies
 node_modules/
 dist/
 build/
 *.log
+
+# Environment files
 .env
 .env.local
 .env.*.local
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ obj/
 *.suo
 *.cache
 
+# Configuration files (contain secrets)
+appsettings.json
+appsettings.*.json
+
 # Frontend
 .coverage
-" > .gitignore
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/GermanApp/appsettings.Development.json b/GermanApp/appsettings.Development.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 045b0f3..0000000
--- a/GermanApp/appsettings.Development.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "Logging": {
-    "LogLevel": {
-      "Default": "Debug",
-      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Information"
-    }
-  },
-  "ConnectionStrings": {
-    "DefaultConnection": "Host=localhost;Port=5432;Database=DeutschLernen;Username=postgres;Password=postgres"
-  }
-}
diff --git a/GermanApp/appsettings.Production.json b/GermanApp/appsettings.Production.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 4dd231b..0000000
--- a/GermanApp/appsettings.Production.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "Logging": {
-    "LogLevel": {
-      "Default": "Warning",
-      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Error"
-    }
-  },
-  "ConnectionStrings": {
-    "DefaultConnection": "Host=prod-db;Port=5432;Database=DeutschLernen;Username=postgres;Password=${DB_PASSWORD}"
-  }
-}
diff --git a/GermanApp/appsettings.Staging.json b/GermanApp/appsettings.Staging.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 4635bcd..0000000
--- a/GermanApp/appsettings.Staging.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "Logging": {
-    "LogLevel": {
-      "Default": "Information",
-      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
-    }
-  },
-  "ConnectionStrings": {
-    "DefaultConnection": "Host=staging-db;Port=5432;Database=DeutschLernen;Username=postgres;Password=${DB_PASSWORD}"
-  }
-}
diff --git a/GermanApp/appsettings.json b/GermanApp/appsettings.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 41ed9f9..0000000
--- a/GermanApp/appsettings.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "Logging": {
-    "LogLevel": {
-      "Default": "Information",
-      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
-    }
-  },
-  "AllowedHosts": "*",
-  "ConnectionStrings": {
-    "DefaultConnection": "Host=localhost;Port=5432;Database=DeutschLernen;Username=postgres;Password=postgres"
-  },
-  "Jwt": {
-    "Key": "your-super-secret-key-at-least-32-characters-long",
-    "Issuer": "DeutschLernen",
-    "Audience": "DeutschLernen",
-    "ExpireHours": 24
-  }
-}