diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 223ac3b..5857e37 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
         "symfony/security-bundle": "8.1.*",
         "symfony/serializer": "8.1.*",
         "symfony/twig-bundle": "8.1.*",
+        "symfony/uid": "8.1.*",
         "symfony/validator": "8.1.*",
         "symfony/yaml": "8.1.*"
     },
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@
         }
     },
     "require-dev": {
+        "dama/doctrine-test-bundle": "^8.6",
         "friendsofphp/php-cs-fixer": "^3.95",
         "phpstan/extension-installer": "^1.4",
         "phpstan/phpstan": "^2.2",
diff --git a/composer.lock b/composer.lock
index 79cf256..fdb9c94 100644
--- a/composer.lock
+++ b/composer.lock
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
         "Read more about it at https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md#installing-dependencies",
         "This file is @generated automatically"
     ],
-    "content-hash": "6b5cd0f778cc640d42c1d048d7f5e83b",
+    "content-hash": "8096a72d560f2d6e1c5aafb6175ba005",
     "packages": [
         {
             "name": "api-platform/doctrine-common",
@@ -7594,6 +7594,75 @@
             ],
             "time": "2024-05-06T16:37:16+00:00"
         },
+        {
+            "name": "dama/doctrine-test-bundle",
+            "version": "v8.6.0",
+            "source": {
+                "type": "git",
+                "url": "https://github.com/dmaicher/doctrine-test-bundle.git",
+                "reference": "f7e3487643e685432f7e27c50cac64e9f8c515a4"
+            },
+            "dist": {
+                "type": "zip",
+                "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/dmaicher/doctrine-test-bundle/zipball/f7e3487643e685432f7e27c50cac64e9f8c515a4",
+                "reference": "f7e3487643e685432f7e27c50cac64e9f8c515a4",
+                "shasum": ""
+            },
+            "require": {
+                "doctrine/dbal": "^3.3 || ^4.0",
+                "doctrine/doctrine-bundle": "^2.11.0 || ^3.0",
+                "php": ">= 8.2",
+                "psr/cache": "^2.0 || ^3.0",
+                "symfony/cache": "^6.4 || ^7.3 || ^8.0",
+                "symfony/framework-bundle": "^6.4 || ^7.3 || ^8.0"
+            },
+            "conflict": {
+                "phpunit/phpunit": "<11.0"
+            },
+            "require-dev": {
+                "behat/behat": "^3.0",
+                "friendsofphp/php-cs-fixer": "^3.27",
+                "phpstan/phpstan": "^2.0",
+                "phpunit/phpunit": "^11.5.41|| ^12.3.14",
+                "symfony/dotenv": "^6.4 || ^7.3 || ^8.0",
+                "symfony/process": "^6.4 || ^7.3 || ^8.0"
+            },
+            "type": "symfony-bundle",
+            "extra": {
+                "branch-alias": {
+                    "dev-master": "8.x-dev"
+                }
+            },
+            "autoload": {
+                "psr-4": {
+                    "DAMA\\DoctrineTestBundle\\": "src"
+                }
+            },
+            "notification-url": "https://packagist.org/downloads/",
+            "license": [
+                "MIT"
+            ],
+            "authors": [
+                {
+                    "name": "David Maicher",
+                    "email": "mail@dmaicher.de"
+                }
+            ],
+            "description": "Symfony bundle to isolate doctrine database tests and improve test performance",
+            "keywords": [
+                "doctrine",
+                "isolation",
+                "performance",
+                "symfony",
+                "testing",
+                "tests"
+            ],
+            "support": {
+                "issues": "https://github.com/dmaicher/doctrine-test-bundle/issues",
+                "source": "https://github.com/dmaicher/doctrine-test-bundle/tree/v8.6.0"
+            },
+            "time": "2026-01-21T07:39:44+00:00"
+        },
         {
             "name": "ergebnis/agent-detector",
             "version": "1.2.0",
@@ -11043,5 +11112,5 @@
         "ext-iconv": "*"
     },
     "platform-dev": {},
-    "plugin-api-version": "2.6.0"
+    "plugin-api-version": "2.9.0"
 }
diff --git a/config/bundles.php b/config/bundles.php
index 140f5fd..a3ed082 100644
--- a/config/bundles.php
+++ b/config/bundles.php
@@ -9,4 +9,5 @@ return [
     Nelmio\CorsBundle\NelmioCorsBundle::class => ['all' => true],
     ApiPlatform\Symfony\Bundle\ApiPlatformBundle::class => ['all' => true],
     Symfony\Bundle\MakerBundle\MakerBundle::class => ['dev' => true],
+    DAMA\DoctrineTestBundle\DAMADoctrineTestBundle::class => ['test' => true],
 ];
diff --git a/config/packages/dama_doctrine_test_bundle.yaml b/config/packages/dama_doctrine_test_bundle.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3482cba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/packages/dama_doctrine_test_bundle.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+when@test:
+    dama_doctrine_test:
+        enable_static_connection: true
+        enable_static_meta_data_cache: true
+        enable_static_query_cache: true
diff --git a/config/reference.php b/config/reference.php
index 8055c49..ba0ae39 100644
--- a/config/reference.php
+++ b/config/reference.php
@@ -1580,6 +1580,12 @@ use Symfony\Component\Config\Loader\ParamConfigurator as Param;
  *     generate_final_classes?: bool|Param, // Default: true
  *     generate_final_entities?: bool|Param, // Default: false
  * }
+ * @psalm-type DamaDoctrineTestConfig = array{
+ *     enable_static_connection?: mixed, // Default: true
+ *     enable_static_meta_data_cache?: bool|Param, // Default: true
+ *     enable_static_query_cache?: bool|Param, // Default: true
+ *     connection_keys?: list<mixed>,
+ * }
  * @psalm-type ConfigType = array{
  *     imports?: ImportsConfig,
  *     parameters?: ParametersConfig,
@@ -1627,6 +1633,7 @@ use Symfony\Component\Config\Loader\ParamConfigurator as Param;
  *         doctrine_migrations?: DoctrineMigrationsConfig,
  *         nelmio_cors?: NelmioCorsConfig,
  *         api_platform?: ApiPlatformConfig,
+ *         dama_doctrine_test?: DamaDoctrineTestConfig,
  *     },
  *     ...<string, ExtensionType|array{ // extra keys must follow the when@%env% pattern or match an extension alias
  *         imports?: ImportsConfig,
diff --git a/phpunit.dist.xml b/phpunit.dist.xml
index 22bd879..2686035 100644
--- a/phpunit.dist.xml
+++ b/phpunit.dist.xml
@@ -40,5 +40,6 @@
     </source>
 
     <extensions>
+        <bootstrap class="DAMA\DoctrineTestBundle\PHPUnit\PHPUnitExtension" />
     </extensions>
 </phpunit>
diff --git a/symfony.lock b/symfony.lock
index 84b30b1..cdf8a52 100644
--- a/symfony.lock
+++ b/symfony.lock
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
             "src/ApiResource/.gitignore"
         ]
     },
+    "dama/doctrine-test-bundle": {
+        "version": "v8.6.0"
+    },
     "doctrine/deprecations": {
         "version": "1.1",
         "recipe": {
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap.php b/tests/bootstrap.php
index 47a5855..eceb9e0 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap.php
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 
+use Doctrine\ORM\Tools\SchemaTool;
 use Symfony\Component\Dotenv\Dotenv;
 
 require dirname(__DIR__).'/vendor/autoload.php';
@@ -11,3 +12,51 @@ if (method_exists(Dotenv::class, 'bootEnv')) {
 if ($_SERVER['APP_DEBUG']) {
     umask(0000);
 }
+
+// Bootstrap the test database so that a fresh checkout / CI never hits
+// "database does not exist" or schema drift.
+//
+// Strategy: use the Symfony kernel (test env) to reach Doctrine, then:
+//   1. CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS  — via the DBAL schema manager
+//   2. Run pending migrations           — via the MigrationsBundle console command
+//
+// This runs once per phpunit invocation (not per test — DAMA wraps each test
+// in a transaction and rolls it back, so the schema itself must already exist).
+(function (): void {
+    $kernel = new \App\Kernel('test', true);
+    $kernel->boot();
+
+    $container = $kernel->getContainer();
+
+    /** @var \Doctrine\DBAL\Connection $connection */
+    $connection = $container->get('doctrine')->getConnection();
+
+    // 1. Ensure the database exists.
+    $schemaManager = $connection->createSchemaManager();
+    $dbName        = $connection->getDatabase();
+
+    if (!in_array($dbName, $schemaManager->listDatabases(), true)) {
+        $schemaManager->createDatabase($dbName);
+    }
+
+    // 2. Run any pending migrations idempotently.
+    //    --no-interaction suppresses the "are you sure?" prompt.
+    /** @var \Symfony\Component\Console\Application $application */
+    $application = new \Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Console\Application($kernel);
+    $application->setAutoExit(false);
+
+    $exitCode = $application->run(
+        new \Symfony\Component\Console\Input\ArrayInput([
+            'command'          => 'doctrine:migrations:migrate',
+            '--no-interaction' => true,
+        ]),
+        new \Symfony\Component\Console\Output\NullOutput(),
+    );
+
+    if ($exitCode !== 0) {
+        fwrite(STDERR, "bootstrap.php: doctrine:migrations:migrate failed (exit {$exitCode})\n");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    $kernel->shutdown();
+})();