diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 634aae8..7b649c7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -156,14 +156,22 @@
 In kustvakt.conf or kustvakt-test.conf, set  
 
 	mail.enabled = true
-	mail.receiver = test@localhost
 	mail.sender = noreply@ids-mannheim.de
+	mail.receiver = test@localhost
+	mail.address.retrieval = test
 
+You can change ```mail.sender``` value to any email address (beware 
+of spam in your mail server configuration). ```mail.receiver``` 
+is an email address used for testing. All mails are to be sent to this 
+email address. Change ```test``` to any username available in your system, 
+or create an alias for ```test@localhost```. 
 
-You can change ```mail.sender``` value to any email address.
-```mail.receiver``` is only used for testing purpose. Change 
-```test``` to any username available in your system, or create an alias for 
-```test@localhost```. 
+```mail.address.retrieval``` 
+determines how user email addresses are retrieved. By default and 
+for testing, only the ```mail.receiver``` value is used as the 
+email address of all users. For custom implementation, 
+please refer to ```de.ids_mannheim.korap.authentication.KustvaktAuthenticationManager.getUser(String, String)```
+ 
 
 To view the mailbox, you can use ```mailx``` 
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/interfaces/AuthenticationManagerIface.java b/core/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/interfaces/AuthenticationManagerIface.java
index 09d495f..f968b61 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/interfaces/AuthenticationManagerIface.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/interfaces/AuthenticationManagerIface.java
@@ -123,4 +123,9 @@
     public String providerList () {
         return "provider list: " + this.providers.toString();
     }
+
+
+    public abstract User getUser (String username, String method)
+            throws KustvaktException;
+
 }
diff --git a/full/Changes b/full/Changes
index 7d83752..7c82ed6 100644
--- a/full/Changes
+++ b/full/Changes
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 version 0.60 release
-21/02/2018
+26/02/2018
 	- set up mail settings using localhost port 25 (margaretha)
 	- added mail template in kustvakt configuration (margaretha)
 	- added mail settings to readme (margaretha)
 	- disabled email notification for auto group (margaretha)
+	- added metadata retrieval (diewald)
+	- enabled custom implementation for email address retrieval (margaretha)
 
 version 0.59.10	
 20/02/2018 
diff --git a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/authentication/KustvaktAuthenticationManager.java b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/authentication/KustvaktAuthenticationManager.java
index 0015e89..8a8ac3d 100644
--- a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/authentication/KustvaktAuthenticationManager.java
+++ b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/authentication/KustvaktAuthenticationManager.java
@@ -139,11 +139,27 @@
 		//EM:copied from EntityDao
 		KorAPUser user = new KorAPUser(); // oder eigentlich new DemoUser oder new DefaultUser.
         user.setUsername(username);
-        // get user data
-        user.setEmail(config.getTestEmail());
         return user;
 //		return entHandler.getAccount(username);
 	}
+	
+	@Override
+    public User getUser (String username, String method)
+            throws KustvaktException {
+	    KorAPUser user = new KorAPUser();
+        user.setUsername(username);
+        String email = null;
+        switch (method.toLowerCase()) {
+            case "ldap":
+                email = config.getTestEmail();
+                break;
+            default:
+                email = config.getTestEmail();
+                break;
+        }
+        user.setEmail(email);
+        return user;
+    }
 
 	public TokenContext refresh(TokenContext context) throws KustvaktException {
 		AuthenticationIface provider = getProvider(context.getTokenType(), null);
diff --git a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/FullConfiguration.java b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/FullConfiguration.java
index 201fc4b..aee009b 100644
--- a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/FullConfiguration.java
+++ b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/FullConfiguration.java
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     private boolean isMailEnabled;
     private String testEmail;
     private String noReply;
-
+    private String emailAddressRetrieval;
+    
     private String groupInvitationTemplate;
     
     private String ldapConfig;
@@ -64,9 +65,10 @@
         setMailEnabled(Boolean.valueOf(properties.getProperty("mail.enabled", "false")));
         if (isMailEnabled){
             // other properties must be set in the kustvakt.conf
-            setTestEmail(properties.getProperty("mail.receiver"));
+            setTestEmail(properties.getProperty("mail.receiver","test@localhost"));
             setNoReply(properties.getProperty("mail.sender"));
             setGroupInvitationTemplate(properties.getProperty("template.group.invitation"));
+            setEmailAddressRetrieval(properties.getProperty("mail.address.retrieval","test"));
         }
     }
 
@@ -269,4 +271,12 @@
         this.groupInvitationTemplate = groupInvitationTemplate;
     }
 
+    public String getEmailAddressRetrieval () {
+        return emailAddressRetrieval;
+    }
+
+    public void setEmailAddressRetrieval (String emailAddressRetrieval) {
+        this.emailAddressRetrieval = emailAddressRetrieval;
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/service/MailService.java b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/service/MailService.java
index 866a0a9..5051815 100644
--- a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/service/MailService.java
+++ b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/service/MailService.java
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@
 
             public void prepare (MimeMessage mimeMessage) throws Exception {
 
-                User invitee = authManager.getUser(inviteeName);
+                User invitee = authManager.getUser(inviteeName,
+                        config.getEmailAddressRetrieval());
 
                 MimeMessageHelper message = new MimeMessageHelper(mimeMessage);
                 message.setTo(new InternetAddress(invitee.getEmail()));
diff --git a/full/src/main/resources/kustvakt.conf b/full/src/main/resources/kustvakt.conf
index d737a06..ab20bad 100644
--- a/full/src/main/resources/kustvakt.conf
+++ b/full/src/main/resources/kustvakt.conf
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 mail.enabled = false
 mail.receiver = test@localhost
 mail.sender = noreply@ids-mannheim.de
+mail.address.retrieval = test
 
 ## mail.templates
 template.group.invitation = notification.vm
diff --git a/full/src/test/resources/kustvakt-test.conf b/full/src/test/resources/kustvakt-test.conf
index ca6b233..1de6cb1 100644
--- a/full/src/test/resources/kustvakt-test.conf
+++ b/full/src/test/resources/kustvakt-test.conf
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 mail.enabled = false
 mail.receiver = test@localhost
 mail.sender = noreply@ids-mannheim.de
+mail.address.retrieval = test
 
 ## mail.templates
 template.group.invitation = notification.vm