diff --git a/frontend/.gitignore b/frontend/.gitignore
index 8a9a56a5008..720cc704bcc 100644
--- a/frontend/.gitignore
+++ b/frontend/.gitignore
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ selenium-debug.log
 # local env files
 .env.local
 .env.*.local
-public/environment.js
 
 # Log files
 npm-debug.log*
diff --git a/frontend/docker-setup.sh b/frontend/docker-setup.sh
index 1b09235199d..e753108fb27 100755
--- a/frontend/docker-setup.sh
+++ b/frontend/docker-setup.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-BASEDIR=$(dirname "$0")
-ENV_FILE=$BASEDIR"/public/environment.js"
-
-if [ ! -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then
-    cp $BASEDIR/public/environment.docker.dist "$ENV_FILE"
-fi
-
 npm ci --verbose
 
 if [ "$CI" = 'true' ] ; then
diff --git a/frontend/index.html b/frontend/index.html
index f40e497c225..23f9cadfe8e 100644
--- a/frontend/index.html
+++ b/frontend/index.html
@@ -55,48 +55,6 @@
 
     <div id="app"></div>
     <script src="/environment.js" lang="application/javascript"></script>
-    <script>
-      if ('environment' in window) {
-        const requiredKeys = [
-          'API_ROOT_URL',
-          'COOKIE_PREFIX',
-          'PRINT_URL',
-          'SENTRY_FRONTEND_DSN',
-          'SHARED_COOKIE_DOMAIN',
-          'DEPLOYMENT_TIME',
-          'VERSION',
-          'VERSION_LINK_TEMPLATE',
-          'TERMS_OF_SERVICE_LINK_TEMPLATE',
-          'LOGIN_INFO_TEXT_KEY',
-        ]
-
-        const optionalKeys = [
-          'SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT',
-          'FEATURE_DEVELOPER',
-          'RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY',
-        ]
-
-        const missingKeys = requiredKeys.filter(
-          (key) => !Object.keys(window.environment).includes(key)
-        )
-        if (missingKeys.length > 0) {
-          console.error(`Missing key(s): "${missingKeys.join(
-            ','
-          )}" in frontend/public/environment.js
-  You can look up example values in frontend/public/environment.dist`)
-        }
-
-        const additionalKeys = Object.keys(window.environment).filter(
-          (key) => !requiredKeys.includes(key) && !optionalKeys.includes(key)
-        )
-        if (additionalKeys.length > 0) {
-          console.error(`Additional defined key(s): "${additionalKeys.join(
-            ','
-          )}" in frontend/public/environment.js
-  Maybe you forgot to add them here to the requiredKeys`)
-        }
-      }
-    </script>
     <script type="module" src="/src/main.js"></script>
     <!-- built files will be auto injected -->
   </body>
diff --git a/frontend/public/environment.dist b/frontend/public/environment.dist
deleted file mode 100644
index d22c43902b8..00000000000
--- a/frontend/public/environment.dist
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-window.environment = {
-  API_ROOT_URL: 'http://localhost:3001',
-  COOKIE_PREFIX: 'localhost_',
-  PRINT_URL: 'http://localhost:3003',
-  SENTRY_FRONTEND_DSN: null,
-  SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT: "http://localhost:3000",
-  SHARED_COOKIE_DOMAIN: 'localhost',
-  DEPLOYMENT_TIME: '',
-  VERSION: '',
-  VERSION_LINK_TEMPLATE: 'https://github.com/ecamp/ecamp3/commit/{version}',
-  TERMS_OF_SERVICE_LINK_TEMPLATE: 'https://ecamp3.ch/{lang}/tos',
-  FEATURE_DEVELOPER: true,
-  LOGIN_INFO_TEXT_KEY: 'dev'
-}
diff --git a/frontend/public/environment.docker.dist b/frontend/public/environment.docker.dist
deleted file mode 100644
index d22c43902b8..00000000000
--- a/frontend/public/environment.docker.dist
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-window.environment = {
-  API_ROOT_URL: 'http://localhost:3001',
-  COOKIE_PREFIX: 'localhost_',
-  PRINT_URL: 'http://localhost:3003',
-  SENTRY_FRONTEND_DSN: null,
-  SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT: "http://localhost:3000",
-  SHARED_COOKIE_DOMAIN: 'localhost',
-  DEPLOYMENT_TIME: '',
-  VERSION: '',
-  VERSION_LINK_TEMPLATE: 'https://github.com/ecamp/ecamp3/commit/{version}',
-  TERMS_OF_SERVICE_LINK_TEMPLATE: 'https://ecamp3.ch/{lang}/tos',
-  FEATURE_DEVELOPER: true,
-  LOGIN_INFO_TEXT_KEY: 'dev'
-}
diff --git a/frontend/public/environment.js b/frontend/public/environment.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..47b91ee3e64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/public/environment.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+/**
+ * This is a placeholder.
+ * In production, this file is filled with the values for window.environment.
+ * In development, window.environment is filled in src/dev-environment.js
+ */
diff --git a/frontend/src/dev-environment.js b/frontend/src/dev-environment.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..431f60c82ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/dev-environment.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// you can overwrite the env variables locally in frontend/env.local
+// @see https://vitejs.dev/guide/env-and-mode.html
+if (!window.environment) {
+  const env = import.meta.env
+  window.environment = {
+    API_ROOT_URL: env.VITE_API_ROOT_URL ?? 'http://localhost:3001',
+    COOKIE_PREFIX: env.VITE_COOKIE_PREFIX ?? 'localhost_',
+    PRINT_URL: env.VITE_PRINT_URL ?? 'http://localhost:3003',
+    SENTRY_FRONTEND_DSN: env.VITE_SENTRY_FRONTEND_DSN,
+    SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT: env.VITE_SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT ?? 'http://localhost:3000',
+    SHARED_COOKIE_DOMAIN: env.VITE_SHARED_COOKIE_DOMAIN ?? 'localhost',
+    DEPLOYMENT_TIME: env.VITE_DEPLOYMENT_TIME ?? '',
+    VERSION: env.VITE_VERSION ?? '',
+    VERSION_LINK_TEMPLATE:
+      env.VITE_VERSION_LINK_TEMPLATE ??
+      'https://github.com/ecamp/ecamp3/commit/{version}',
+    FEATURE_DEVELOPER: env.VITE_FEATURE_DEVELOPER ?? true,
+    LOGIN_INFO_TEXT_KEY: env.VITE_LOGIN_INFO_TEXT_KEY ?? 'dev',
+  }
+}
+export const getEnv = () => window.environment
diff --git a/frontend/src/main.js b/frontend/src/main.js
index f3be61c1888..b163f86c2fa 100644
--- a/frontend/src/main.js
+++ b/frontend/src/main.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+//getEnv needs to be imported first
+import { getEnv } from '@/dev-environment'
 import Vue from 'vue'
 import App from './App.vue'
 import router from '@/router.js'
@@ -20,6 +22,8 @@ import 'vue-toastification/dist/index.css'
 
 import { Resize } from 'vuetify/lib/directives'
 
+getEnv()
+
 if (window.environment && window.environment.SENTRY_FRONTEND_DSN) {
   const environment = window.environment.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT ?? 'http://localhost:3000'
   Sentry.init({