diff --git a/the_works/database.py b/the_works/database.py
index c5bd12c..fd35f2b 100644
--- a/the_works/database.py
+++ b/the_works/database.py
@@ -5,4 +5,14 @@ db = SQLAlchemy()
 def init_db(app):
   db.init_app(app)
   with app.app_context():
-    db.reflect()
\ No newline at end of file
+    print(f"number of db tables is {len(db.metadata.tables)}")
+
+    # populate an empty DB with fresh tables
+		#TODO: maybe add tables to metadata in any case since tables won't get overwritten
+    if not len(db.metadata.tables): 
+      from the_works.tables import add_tables
+      add_tables(db.metadata)
+      db.metadata.create_all(db.engine)
+      print(f"and now number of db tables is {len(db.metadata.tables)}")
+
+    db.reflect()
diff --git a/the_works/tables.py b/the_works/tables.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2ea897
--- /dev/null
+++ b/the_works/tables.py
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+# File content is based on the output of `sqlacodegen --generator tables sqlite:///path/to/the_works.sqlite` 
+
+from sqlalchemy import Column, ForeignKey, Integer, LargeBinary, MetaData, Table, Text
+
+def add_tables(metadata):
+  t_Genre = Table(
+    'Genre', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Genre', Text, nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Herausgeber = Table(
+    'Herausgeber', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Name', Text, nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Pseudonym = Table(
+    'Pseudonym', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Pseudonym', Text, nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Sprache = Table(
+    'Sprache', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Sprache', Text, nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Textform = Table(
+    'Textform', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Textform', Text, nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Titelbild = Table(
+    'Titelbild', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Mimetype', Text, nullable=False),
+    Column('Dateiname', Text, nullable=False),
+    Column('Dateigroesse', Integer, nullable=False),
+    Column('Breite', Integer, nullable=False),
+    Column('Hoehe', Integer, nullable=False),
+    Column('Bild', LargeBinary, nullable=False),
+    Column('Thumbnail', LargeBinary, nullable=False),
+    Column('sha256', Text, nullable=False, unique=True)
+  )
+
+  t_Verlag = Table(
+    'Verlag', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Verlag', Text, nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Werksform = Table(
+    'Werksform', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Werksform', Text, nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Reihe = Table(
+    'Reihe', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Titel', Text, nullable=False),
+    Column('Verlag', ForeignKey('Verlag.ID'))
+  )
+
+  t_Text = Table(
+    'Text', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Titel', Text, nullable=False),
+    Column('Untertitel', Text),
+    Column('Reihe', ForeignKey('Reihe.ID')),
+    Column('Textform', ForeignKey('Textform.ID')),
+    Column('Sprache', ForeignKey('Sprache.ID'))
+  )
+
+  t_Werk = Table(
+    'Werk', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Titel', Text, nullable=False),
+    Column('Untertitel', Text),
+    Column('Werksform', ForeignKey('Werksform.ID')),
+    Column('Verlag', ForeignKey('Verlag.ID')),
+    Column('Reihe', ForeignKey('Reihe.ID')),
+    Column('Reihennummer', Text),
+    Column('Erscheinungsdatum', Text),
+    Column('ISBN_13', Text),
+    Column('ISBN_10', Text),
+    Column('ISSN', Text),
+    Column('Preis', Text),
+    Column('Titelbild', ForeignKey('Titelbild.ID')),
+    Column('Klappentext', Text),
+    Column('Anmerkungen', Text)
+  )
+
+  t_Text_Genre = Table(
+    'Text_Genre', metadata,
+    Column('Text', ForeignKey('Text.ID'), primary_key=True),
+    Column('Genre', ForeignKey('Genre.ID'), primary_key=True)
+  )
+
+  t_Veroeffentlichung = Table(
+    'Veroeffentlichung', metadata,
+    Column('ID', Integer, primary_key=True),
+    Column('Text', ForeignKey('Text.ID'), nullable=False),
+    Column('Werk', ForeignKey('Werk.ID'), nullable=False),
+    Column('AltTitel', Text),
+    Column('AltUntertitel', Text),
+    Column('Pseudonym', ForeignKey('Pseudonym.ID'), nullable=False)
+  )
+
+  t_Werk_Genre = Table(
+    'Werk_Genre', metadata,
+    Column('Werk', ForeignKey('Werk.ID'), primary_key=True),
+    Column('Genre', ForeignKey('Genre.ID'), primary_key=True)
+  )
+
+  t_Werk_Herausgeber = Table(
+    'Werk_Herausgeber', metadata,
+    Column('Herausgeber', ForeignKey('Herausgeber.ID'), primary_key=True),
+    Column('Werk', ForeignKey('Werk.ID'), primary_key=True)
+  )