diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/KustvaktConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/KustvaktConfiguration.java
index 1564e77..20d5813 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/KustvaktConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/config/KustvaktConfiguration.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import org.apache.log4j.PropertyConfigurator;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@
 public class KustvaktConfiguration {
 
     private static final Logger jlog = KustvaktLogger
-            .initiate(KustvaktConfiguration.class);
+            .getLogger(KustvaktConfiguration.class);
     private String indexDir;
     private int port;
     // todo: make exclusive so that the containg languages can really only be used then
@@ -77,9 +78,11 @@
      * @return
      */
     protected Properties load(Properties properties) {
-        String log4jconfig = properties
-                .getProperty("log4jconfig", "log4j.properties");
-        loadLog4jLogger(log4jconfig);
+        properties.list(System.out);
+
+        // if not present, uses classpath log4j.properties
+        String log4jconfig = properties.getProperty("log4jconfig", "");
+        loadLog4jLogger();
         maxhits = new Integer(properties.getProperty("maxhits", "50000"));
         returnhits = new Integer(properties.getProperty("returnhits", "50000"));
         indexDir = properties.getProperty("lucene.indexDir", "");
@@ -156,6 +159,7 @@
      */
     public void setPropertiesAsStream(InputStream stream) {
         try {
+
             Properties p = new Properties();
             p.load(stream);
             this.load(p);
@@ -172,16 +176,17 @@
             return Enum.valueOf(BACKENDS.class, value.toUpperCase());
     }
 
-    private void loadLog4jLogger(String log4jconfig) {
+    private void loadLog4jLogger() {
         /** loadSubTypes log4j configuration file programmatically */
         Properties log4j = new Properties();
         try {
-            if (!log4jconfig.equals("")) {
-                log4j.load(new FileInputStream(log4jconfig));
+            File f = new File("./config/log4j.properties");
+            if (f.exists()) {
+                log4j.load(new FileInputStream(f));
                 PropertyConfigurator.configure(log4j);
-                jlog.info(
+                jlog.warn(
                         "using local logging properties file ({}) to configure logging system",
-                        log4jconfig);
+                        "./config/log4j.properties");
                 return;
             }
         }catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/KustvaktBaseServer.java b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/KustvaktBaseServer.java
index 8686d73..e371f45 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/KustvaktBaseServer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/KustvaktBaseServer.java
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 import org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHolder;
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.ssl.SslContextFactory;
 
-import java.io.FileInputStream;
-
 /**
  * @author hanl
  * @date 01/06/2015
@@ -30,9 +28,6 @@
         else
             BeanConfiguration.loadClasspathContext();
 
-        BeanConfiguration.getBeans().getConfiguration().setPropertiesAsStream(
-                new FileInputStream(kargs.getProperties()));
-
         kargs.setRootPackages(
                 new String[] { "de.ids_mannheim.korap.web.service.light" });
         startServer(kargs);
@@ -58,9 +53,9 @@
                     StringBuffer b = new StringBuffer();
 
                     b.append("Parameter description: \n")
-                            .append("--config  <Path to spring configuration file> : Configuration file\n")
-                            .append("--port  <Server port> : Port under which the server is accessible \n")
-                            .append("--props  <Path to kustvakt properties> : list of configuration properties\n")
+                            .append("--config  <Path to spring configuration file> : Configuration file\n").append(
+                            "--port  <Server port> : Port under which the server is accessible \n")
+                            //                            .append("--props  <Path to kustvakt properties> : list of configuration properties\n")
                             .append("--help : This help menu\n");
                     System.out.println(b.toString());
                     System.out.println();
@@ -124,6 +119,7 @@
         @Getter
         private String config;
         @Getter
+        @Deprecated
         private String properties;
         private int port;
         private SslContextFactory sslContext;
@@ -134,6 +130,7 @@
             this.sslContext = null;
             this.debug = false;
             this.config = null;
+            this.properties = null;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/default-config.xml b/src/main/resources/default-config.xml
index 983a69c..7d21bdd 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/default-config.xml
+++ b/src/main/resources/default-config.xml
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-4.0.xsd
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-4.0.xsd
+
+
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-4.0.xsd
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/cache
@@ -20,11 +22,27 @@
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-4.0.xsd">
 
     <cache:annotation-driven/>
-    <util:properties id="props" location="classpath:kustvakt.conf"/>
+
+    <bean id="props"
+          class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertiesFactoryBean">
+        <property name="ignoreResourceNotFound" value="true"/>
+        <property name="locations">
+            <array>
+                <value>classpath:kustvakt.conf</value>
+                <value>file:./config/kustvakt.conf</value>
+            </array>
+        </property>
+    </bean>
 
     <bean id="jdbc_props"
           class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
-        <property name="locations" value="classpath:jdbc.properties"/>
+        <property name="ignoreResourceNotFound" value="true"/>
+        <property name="locations">
+            <array>
+                <value>classpath:jdbc.properties</value>
+                <value>file:./config/jdbc.properties</value>
+            </array>
+        </property>
     </bean>
 
     <bean id='cacheManager'
@@ -51,7 +69,7 @@
         <property name="password" value="${jdbc.password}"/>
         <!-- relevant for single connection datasource and sqlite -->
         <!--<property name="suppressClose">-->
-            <!--<value>true</value>-->
+        <!--<value>true</value>-->
         <!--</property>-->
         <property name="initialSize" value="1"/>
         <property name="maxIdle" value="1"/>
diff --git a/src/main/resources/light-config.xml b/src/main/resources/light-config.xml
index 12dce87..5548189 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/light-config.xml
+++ b/src/main/resources/light-config.xml
@@ -8,7 +8,18 @@
                             http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-4.0.xsd">
 
 
-    <util:properties id="props" location="classpath:kustvakt.conf"/>
+    <!--<util:properties id="props" location="classpath:kustvakt.conf"/>-->
+
+    <bean id="props"
+          class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.PropertiesFactoryBean">
+        <property name="ignoreResourceNotFound" value="true"/>
+        <property name="locations">
+            <array>
+                <value>classpath:kustvakt.conf</value>
+                <value>file:./config/kustvakt.conf</value>
+            </array>
+        </property>
+    </bean>
 
     <bean id="kustvakt_auditing"
           class="de.ids_mannheim.korap.interfaces.defaults.DefaultAuditing">