diff --git a/src/index.rs b/src/index.rs
index 274041d..b030ebd 100644
--- a/src/index.rs
+++ b/src/index.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
-use crate::page::new;
+use crate::{language::language, page::new};
+use axum::http::HeaderMap;
+use axum_extra::extract::CookieJar;
 use maud::{html, Markup};
 
-pub(super) async fn index() -> Markup {
+pub(super) async fn index(cookies: CookieJar, headers: HeaderMap) -> Markup {
+    let lang = language(&cookies, &headers);
     new(html! {
         h1 { "Digital Shadows" }
         hgroup {
diff --git a/src/language.rs b/src/language.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f30f1da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/language.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+use crate::Language;
+use axum::http::HeaderMap;
+use axum_extra::extract::CookieJar;
+
+pub(crate) fn language(cookies: &CookieJar, headers: &HeaderMap) -> Language {
+    if let Some(lang_cookie) = cookies.clone().get("language") {
+        // Return existing language cookie
+        lang_cookie.value().to_string().into()
+    } else {
+        // Extract language from Accept-Language header
+        extract_preferred_language(headers).into()
+    }
+}
+
+fn extract_preferred_language(headers: &HeaderMap) -> String {
+    headers
+        .get("accept-language")
+        .and_then(|header| header.to_str().ok())
+        .and_then(|accept_lang| {
+            // Parse Accept-Language header (format: "en-US,en;q=0.9,fr;q=0.8")
+            accept_lang
+                .split(',')
+                .next() // Get first (highest priority) language
+                .map(|lang| {
+                    lang.split(';')
+                        .next() // Remove quality factor (q=0.9)
+                        .unwrap_or(lang)
+                        .trim()
+                        .to_lowercase()
+                })
+        })
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| "en".to_string()) // Default to English
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 2e7f7d5..6738cdc 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use crate::model::client::Client;
-use axum::{routing::get, Router};
+use axum::{http::HeaderMap, routing::get, Router};
 use axum_extra::extract::{cookie::Cookie, CookieJar};
 use sqlx::{pool::PoolOptions, sqlite::SqliteConnectOptions, SqlitePool};
 use std::{str::FromStr, sync::Arc};
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use uuid::Uuid;
 
 mod game;
 mod index;
+pub(crate) mod language;
 pub(crate) mod model;
 mod page;
 pub(crate) mod random_names;
@@ -16,6 +17,27 @@ pub(crate) enum Backend {
     Sqlite(SqlitePool),
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug)]
+enum Language {
+    German,
+    English,
+}
+
+impl From<String> for Language {
+    fn from(value: String) -> Self {
+        if value.starts_with("de") {
+            Language::German
+        } else {
+            Language::English
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+struct Req {
+    client: Client,
+    lang: Language,
+}
+
 impl Backend {
     async fn client(&self, cookies: CookieJar) -> (CookieJar, Client) {
         let existing_uuid = cookies
@@ -31,6 +53,19 @@ impl Backend {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    // Combined method for getting both client and language
+    async fn client_full(&self, cookies: CookieJar, headers: &HeaderMap) -> (CookieJar, Req) {
+        let (cookies, client) = self.client(cookies).await;
+        let lang = language::language(&cookies, headers);
+        (
+            cookies,
+            Req {
+                client,
+                lang: lang.into(),
+            },
+        )
+    }
 }
 
 #[tokio::main]