diff --git a/config.example.toml b/config.example.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..282e2d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.example.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# ~/.config/whisper-local/config.toml
+
+[hotkey]
+key = "KEY_F12"
+
+[whisper]
+model = "small"
+language = "de"
+compute_type = "int8"
+
+[audio]
+sample_rate = 16000
+channels = 1
+min_duration = 0.5
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a73a14b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+import tomllib
+
+from whisper_local.config import Config, load_config
+
+
+class TestConfigDefaults:
+    def test_default_hotkey(self):
+        config = Config()
+        assert config.hotkey == "KEY_F12"
+
+    def test_default_whisper_model(self):
+        config = Config()
+        assert config.whisper_model == "small"
+
+    def test_default_language(self):
+        config = Config()
+        assert config.language == "de"
+
+    def test_default_compute_type(self):
+        config = Config()
+        assert config.compute_type == "int8"
+
+    def test_default_sample_rate(self):
+        config = Config()
+        assert config.sample_rate == 16000
+
+    def test_default_channels(self):
+        config = Config()
+        assert config.channels == 1
+
+    def test_default_min_duration(self):
+        config = Config()
+        assert config.min_duration == 0.5
+
+
+class TestLoadConfig:
+    def test_load_from_toml(self, tmp_path):
+        config_file = tmp_path / "config.toml"
+        config_file.write_text(
+            '[hotkey]\nkey = "KEY_F8"\n\n'
+            '[whisper]\nmodel = "tiny"\nlanguage = "en"\n'
+        )
+        config = load_config(config_file)
+        assert config.hotkey == "KEY_F8"
+        assert config.whisper_model == "tiny"
+        assert config.language == "en"
+        # Defaults bleiben erhalten
+        assert config.compute_type == "int8"
+
+    def test_load_nonexistent_returns_defaults(self, tmp_path):
+        config = load_config(tmp_path / "nope.toml")
+        assert config.hotkey == "KEY_F12"
+
+    def test_load_empty_file(self, tmp_path):
+        config_file = tmp_path / "config.toml"
+        config_file.write_text("")
+        config = load_config(config_file)
+        assert config.hotkey == "KEY_F12"
diff --git a/whisper_local/config.py b/whisper_local/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17c0e94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/whisper_local/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+"""Konfiguration aus TOML-Datei mit sinnvollen Defaults."""
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from pathlib import Path
+import tomllib
+
+
+DEFAULT_CONFIG_PATH = Path.home() / ".config" / "whisper-local" / "config.toml"
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Config:
+    hotkey: str = "KEY_F12"
+    whisper_model: str = "small"
+    language: str = "de"
+    compute_type: str = "int8"
+    sample_rate: int = 16000
+    channels: int = 1
+    min_duration: float = 0.5
+
+
+def load_config(path: Path = DEFAULT_CONFIG_PATH) -> Config:
+    """Lädt Config aus TOML-Datei. Gibt Defaults zurück wenn Datei fehlt."""
+    config = Config()
+
+    if not path.exists():
+        return config
+
+    with open(path, "rb") as f:
+        data = tomllib.load(f)
+
+    hotkey_section = data.get("hotkey", {})
+    if "key" in hotkey_section:
+        config.hotkey = hotkey_section["key"]
+
+    whisper_section = data.get("whisper", {})
+    if "model" in whisper_section:
+        config.whisper_model = whisper_section["model"]
+    if "language" in whisper_section:
+        config.language = whisper_section["language"]
+    if "compute_type" in whisper_section:
+        config.compute_type = whisper_section["compute_type"]
+
+    audio_section = data.get("audio", {})
+    if "sample_rate" in audio_section:
+        config.sample_rate = audio_section["sample_rate"]
+    if "channels" in audio_section:
+        config.channels = audio_section["channels"]
+    if "min_duration" in audio_section:
+        config.min_duration = audio_section["min_duration"]
+
+    return config