diff --git a/config/emailtemplate.conf.php b/config/emailtemplate.conf.php
index b8be58e..93cbaf8 100644
--- a/config/emailtemplate.conf.php
+++ b/config/emailtemplate.conf.php
@@ -1,9 +1,25 @@
 <?php
 declare(strict_types=1);
 
-$bootstrapConfig = __DIR__ . '/config.php';
-if (is_file($bootstrapConfig)) {
-    require_once $bootstrapConfig;
+$bootstrapTried = false;
+$bootstrapLoaded = false;
+$bootstrapCandidates = [__DIR__ . '/config.php'];
+$envHint = getenv('APP_ENV') ?: (getenv('APP_ENV_FILE') ?: null);
+if ($envHint) {
+    $bootstrapCandidates[] = __DIR__ . '/' . $envHint . '/config.php';
+}
+$bootstrapCandidates[] = __DIR__ . '/staging/config.php';
+$bootstrapCandidates[] = __DIR__ . '/prod/config.php';
+foreach ($bootstrapCandidates as $bootstrapConfig) {
+    if ($bootstrapConfig && is_file($bootstrapConfig)) {
+        $bootstrapTried = true;
+        require_once $bootstrapConfig;
+        $bootstrapLoaded = true;
+        break;
+    }
+}
+if (!$bootstrapLoaded) {
+    throw new RuntimeException('No environment config found in config/ or its subdirectories.');
 }
 
 $overrides = $GLOBALS['EMAILTEMPLATE_OVERRIDES'] ?? [];
diff --git a/config/fileload.php b/config/fileload.php
index 78807df..fb33db0 100644
--- a/config/fileload.php
+++ b/config/fileload.php
@@ -5,7 +5,25 @@
 //    → Diese Datei DEFINIERT die Konstanten wie
 //      APP_COOKIE_PREFIX, APP_COOKIE_DOMAIN, APP_ENV etc.
 // -----------------------------------------------------------
-require_once __DIR__ . "/config.php";
+// Try to load primary environment bootstrap.
+$bootstrapCandidates = [__DIR__ . '/config.php'];
+$envHint = getenv('APP_ENV') ?: (getenv('APP_ENV_FILE') ?: null);
+if ($envHint) {
+    $bootstrapCandidates[] = __DIR__ . '/' . $envHint . '/config.php';
+}
+$bootstrapCandidates[] = __DIR__ . '/staging/config.php';
+$bootstrapCandidates[] = __DIR__ . '/prod/config.php';
+$bootstrapLoaded = false;
+foreach ($bootstrapCandidates as $bootstrap) {
+    if ($bootstrap && is_file($bootstrap)) {
+        require_once $bootstrap;
+        $bootstrapLoaded = true;
+        break;
+    }
+}
+if (!$bootstrapLoaded) {
+    throw new RuntimeException('No environment config found under config/.');
+}
 
 $emailtemplateConfigPath = __DIR__ . '/emailtemplate.conf.php';
 if (is_file($emailtemplateConfigPath)) {