diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c74ff8f..38eb9ef 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ To run the Docker version, follow these steps:
 and open the directory in the console. Then run `git clone https://github.com/Human-Connection/Clock-of-Change-API.git` to clone the repository to this directory.
 2. Go to the newly created Clock-of-Change-API directory (`cd Clock-of-Change-API` in the console)
 3. Run `docker-compose up`. This will build the Docker container on first startup and run it. This can take a while, but after some time you should see the Clock of Change ticking.
+4. To create an initial API key and sample entries, run `docker-compose exec db seed.sh`. The initial API key you can use with your requests will have the value `secret`.
 
 Now the Clock of Change API server is ready for usage at [http://127.0.0.1:1337](http://127.0.0.1:1337)
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 6ccb857..7c6c468 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -3,11 +3,16 @@ version: '3'
 services:
   db:
     image: mysql:5
+    volumes:
+      - coc_api_dbdata:/var/lib/mysql
+      - ./seed.sh:/usr/local/bin/seed.sh
     environment:
-      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: 123456
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: clockofchangepw
       MYSQL_DATABASE: clock_of_change
+      MYSQL_USER: coc
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: 123456
     ports:
-      - 3306:3306
+     - 3306:3306
 
   mailhog:
     container_name: mailhog
@@ -21,14 +26,14 @@ services:
     build:
       context: .
     volumes:
-      - ".:/home/node/coc-api"
-      - "/home/node/coc-api/node_modules"
+      - .:/home/node/coc-api
+      - /home/node/coc-api/node_modules
     ports:
       - 1337:1337
     environment:
       - MYSQL_HOST=db
       - MYSQL_DB=clock_of_change
-      - MYSQL_USER=root
+      - MYSQL_USER=coc
       - MYSQL_PASS=123456
       - MAIL_HOST=mailhog
       - MAIL_PORT=1025
@@ -38,3 +43,6 @@ services:
       - db
       - mailhog
     command: bash -c "wait-on tcp:db:3306 && db-migrate up && npm run start"
+
+volumes:
+  coc_api_dbdata:
diff --git a/seed.sh b/seed.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85f06b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/seed.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+mysql --user=$MYSQL_USER --password=$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE << EOF
+INSERT INTO \`clock_of_change\`.\`apikeys\` (\`secret\`, \`valid\`) VALUES ('secret', '1');
+INSERT INTO \`clock_of_change\`.\`entries\` (\`firstname\`, \`lastname\`, \`email\`, \`country\`, \`message\`, \`confirm_key\`, \`beta\`, \`newsletter\`, \`pax\`, \`email_confirmed\`, \`status\`) VALUES ('Pamela', 'Musterfrau', 'pamela@example.org', 'US', 'Let us change the world!', 'confirm', '1', '0', '1', '1', '1');
+INSERT INTO \`clock_of_change\`.\`entries\` (\`firstname\`, \`lastname\`, \`email\`, \`country\`, \`message\`, \`confirm_key\`, \`beta\`, \`newsletter\`, \`pax\`, \`email_confirmed\`, \`status\`) VALUES ('Max', 'Mustermann', 'max@example.org', 'DE', 'Lasst uns die Welt verbessern!', 'confirm', '0', '1', '1', '1', '1');
+EOF