diff --git a/.env.template b/.env.template
index c1ba71f7..3556d34c 100644
--- a/.env.template
+++ b/.env.template
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ SECRET_KEY_FILE=
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # your default timezone See https://timezonedb.com/time-zones for a list of timezones
-TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin
+TZ=Europe/Berlin
 
 # add only a database password if you want to run with the default postgres, otherwise change settings accordingly
 DB_ENGINE=django.db.backends.postgresql
diff --git a/recipes/settings.py b/recipes/settings.py
index df2c2b1d..42164766 100644
--- a/recipes/settings.py
+++ b/recipes/settings.py
@@ -450,7 +450,11 @@ for p in PLUGINS:
 
 LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en'
 
-TIME_ZONE = os.getenv('TIMEZONE') if os.getenv('TIMEZONE') else 'Europe/Berlin'
+if os.getenv('TIMEZONE') is not None:
+    print('DEPRECATION WARNING: Environment var "TIMEZONE" is deprecated. Please use "TZ" instead.')
+    TIME_ZONE = bool(int(os.getenv('REVERSE_PROXY_AUTH', False)))
+else:
+    TIME_ZONE = os.getenv('TZ') if os.getenv('TZ') else 'Europe/Berlin'
 
 USE_I18N = True