diff --git a/cmd/zitadel/system-defaults.yaml b/cmd/zitadel/system-defaults.yaml
index 1f22bf6185..cd84668dce 100644
--- a/cmd/zitadel/system-defaults.yaml
+++ b/cmd/zitadel/system-defaults.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 SystemDefaults:
-  DefaultLanguage: 'de'
+  DefaultLanguage: 'en'
   Domain: $ZITADEL_DEFAULT_DOMAIN
   ZitadelDocs:
     Issuer: $ZITADEL_ISSUER
diff --git a/internal/iam/repository/view/mail_text_view.go b/internal/iam/repository/view/mail_text_view.go
index 82262bf515..31f440293a 100644
--- a/internal/iam/repository/view/mail_text_view.go
+++ b/internal/iam/repository/view/mail_text_view.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	global_model "github.com/caos/zitadel/internal/model"
 	"github.com/caos/zitadel/internal/view/repository"
 	"github.com/jinzhu/gorm"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 func GetMailTexts(db *gorm.DB, table string, aggregateID string) ([]*model.MailTextView, error) {
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ func GetMailTextByIDs(db *gorm.DB, table, aggregateID string, textType string, l
 	mailText := new(model.MailTextView)
 	aggregateIDQuery := &model.MailTextSearchQuery{Key: iam_model.MailTextSearchKeyAggregateID, Value: aggregateID, Method: global_model.SearchMethodEquals}
 	textTypeQuery := &model.MailTextSearchQuery{Key: iam_model.MailTextSearchKeyMailTextType, Value: textType, Method: global_model.SearchMethodEquals}
-	languageQuery := &model.MailTextSearchQuery{Key: iam_model.MailTextSearchKeyLanguage, Value: language, Method: global_model.SearchMethodEquals}
+	languageQuery := &model.MailTextSearchQuery{Key: iam_model.MailTextSearchKeyLanguage, Value: strings.ToUpper(language), Method: global_model.SearchMethodEquals}
 	query := repository.PrepareGetByQuery(table, aggregateIDQuery, textTypeQuery, languageQuery)
 	err := query(db, mailText)
 	if caos_errs.IsNotFound(err) {
diff --git a/internal/notification/repository/eventsourcing/handler/notification.go b/internal/notification/repository/eventsourcing/handler/notification.go
index 56af4c6f06..3841f1707a 100644
--- a/internal/notification/repository/eventsourcing/handler/notification.go
+++ b/internal/notification/repository/eventsourcing/handler/notification.go
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ package handler
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"github.com/caos/zitadel/internal/user/model"
+	model2 "github.com/caos/zitadel/internal/user/repository/view/model"
+	"golang.org/x/text/language"
 	"net/http"
 	"time"
 
@@ -150,12 +153,12 @@ func (n *Notification) handleInitUserCode(event *models.Event) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	user, err := n.view.NotifyUserByID(event.AggregateID)
+	user, err := n.getUserByID(event.AggregateID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypeInitCode, user.PreferredLanguage[len(user.PreferredLanguage)-2:])
+	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypeInitCode, user.PreferredLanguage)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -189,12 +192,12 @@ func (n *Notification) handlePasswordCode(event *models.Event) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	user, err := n.view.NotifyUserByID(event.AggregateID)
+	user, err := n.getUserByID(event.AggregateID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypePasswordReset, user.PreferredLanguage[len(user.PreferredLanguage)-2:])
+	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypePasswordReset, user.PreferredLanguage)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -227,12 +230,12 @@ func (n *Notification) handleEmailVerificationCode(event *models.Event) (err err
 		return err
 	}
 
-	user, err := n.view.NotifyUserByID(event.AggregateID)
+	user, err := n.getUserByID(event.AggregateID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypeVerifyEmail, user.PreferredLanguage[len(user.PreferredLanguage)-2:])
+	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypeVerifyEmail, user.PreferredLanguage)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -255,7 +258,7 @@ func (n *Notification) handlePhoneVerificationCode(event *models.Event) (err err
 	if err != nil || alreadyHandled {
 		return nil
 	}
-	user, err := n.view.NotifyUserByID(event.AggregateID)
+	user, err := n.getUserByID(event.AggregateID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -276,7 +279,7 @@ func (n *Notification) handleDomainClaimed(event *models.Event) (err error) {
 		logging.Log("HANDLE-Gghq2").WithError(err).Error("could not unmarshal event data")
 		return caos_errs.ThrowInternal(err, "HANDLE-7hgj3", "could not unmarshal event")
 	}
-	user, err := n.view.NotifyUserByID(event.AggregateID)
+	user, err := n.getUserByID(event.AggregateID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -290,7 +293,7 @@ func (n *Notification) handleDomainClaimed(event *models.Event) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypeDomainClaimed, user.PreferredLanguage[len(user.PreferredLanguage)-2:])
+	text, err := n.getMailText(context.Background(), mailTextTypeDomainClaimed, user.PreferredLanguage)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -382,12 +385,17 @@ func (n *Notification) getMailTemplate(ctx context.Context) (*iam_model.MailTemp
 }
 
 // Read organization specific texts
-func (n *Notification) getMailText(ctx context.Context, textType string, language string) (*iam_model.MailTextView, error) {
+func (n *Notification) getMailText(ctx context.Context, textType string, lang string) (*iam_model.MailTextView, error) {
+	langTag := language.Make(lang)
+	if langTag == language.Und {
+		langTag = n.systemDefaults.DefaultLanguage
+	}
+	base, _ := langTag.Base()
 	// read from Org
-	mailText, err := n.view.MailTextByIDs(authz.GetCtxData(ctx).OrgID, textType, language, mailTextTableOrg)
+	mailText, err := n.view.MailTextByIDs(authz.GetCtxData(ctx).OrgID, textType, base.String(), mailTextTableOrg)
 	if errors.IsNotFound(err) {
 		// read from default
-		mailText, err = n.view.MailTextByIDs(n.systemDefaults.IamID, textType, language, mailTextTableDef)
+		mailText, err = n.view.MailTextByIDs(n.systemDefaults.IamID, textType, base.String(), mailTextTableDef)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -398,3 +406,27 @@ func (n *Notification) getMailText(ctx context.Context, textType string, languag
 	}
 	return iam_es_model.MailTextViewToModel(mailText), err
 }
+
+func (n *Notification) getUserByID(userID string) (*model2.NotifyUser, error) {
+	user, usrErr := n.view.NotifyUserByID(userID)
+	if usrErr != nil && !caos_errs.IsNotFound(usrErr) {
+		return nil, usrErr
+	}
+	if user == nil {
+		user = &model2.NotifyUser{}
+	}
+	events, err := n.getUserEvents(userID, user.Sequence)
+	if err != nil {
+		return user, usrErr
+	}
+	userCopy := *user
+	for _, event := range events {
+		if err := userCopy.AppendEvent(event); err != nil {
+			return user, nil
+		}
+	}
+	if userCopy.State == int32(model.UserStateDeleted) {
+		return nil, caos_errs.ThrowNotFound(nil, "HANDLER-3n8fs", "Errors.User.NotFound")
+	}
+	return &userCopy, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/user/repository/view/model/notify_user.go b/internal/user/repository/view/model/notify_user.go
index b5a5e687f6..6740febdbc 100644
--- a/internal/user/repository/view/model/notify_user.go
+++ b/internal/user/repository/view/model/notify_user.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ type NotifyUser struct {
 	VerifiedPhone      string         `json:"-" gorm:"column:verified_phone"`
 	PasswordSet        bool           `json:"-" gorm:"column:password_set"`
 	Sequence           uint64         `json:"-" gorm:"column:sequence"`
+	State              int32          `json:"-" gorm:"-"`
 }
 
 func NotifyUserFromModel(user *model.NotifyUser) *NotifyUser {
@@ -144,6 +145,8 @@ func (u *NotifyUser) AppendEvent(event *models.Event) (err error) {
 	case es_model.UserPasswordChanged,
 		es_model.HumanPasswordChanged:
 		err = u.setPasswordData(event)
+	case es_model.UserRemoved:
+		u.State = int32(UserStateDeleted)
 	}
 	return err
 }