diff --git a/src/thsf/__init__.py b/src/thsf/__init__.py
index 6b16d6c..e77af2c 100644
--- a/src/thsf/__init__.py
+++ b/src/thsf/__init__.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import logging
 from logging import config
 import yaml
 from flask import Flask, render_template, redirect, request, url_for
-from thsf.backend import Backend
+# from thsf.backend import Backend
 
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ try:
     app.config["SECRET_KEY"] = app.local_config["app"]["secret_key"]
     app.config["LANGUAGES"] = app.local_config["app"]["languages"]
     config.dictConfig(app.local_config["log"])
-    backend = Backend(url=app.local_config["pretalx"]["url"],
-                      apiprefix=app.local_config["pretalx"]["apiprefix"],
-                      apikey=app.local_config["pretalx"]["apikey"])
+    # backend = Backend(url=app.local_config["pretalx"]["url"],
+    #                   apiprefix=app.local_config["pretalx"]["apiprefix"],
+    #                   apikey=app.local_config["pretalx"]["apikey"])
 except Exception as err:
   logger.critical("[{}] {}".format(err.__class__, str(err)))
   sys.exit(1)