diff --git a/gawa/gawa/urls.py b/gawa/gawa/urls.py
index 2acddd5..4c4b561 100644
--- a/gawa/gawa/urls.py
+++ b/gawa/gawa/urls.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ urlpatterns += i18n_patterns(
 # use my fancy error pages
 # better yet, don't let it come to that
 # FIXME these break the server. something is wrong with them
-#handler400 = 'start.views.Error400'
-#handler404 = 'start.views.Error404'
+handler400 = 'start.views.Error400'
+handler403 = 'start.views.Error403'
+handler404 = 'start.views.Error404'
 #handler500 = 'start.views.Error500'
diff --git a/gawa/start/templates/errors/400.html b/gawa/start/templates/errors/400.html
index 8e58b3a..5d98112 100644
--- a/gawa/start/templates/errors/400.html
+++ b/gawa/start/templates/errors/400.html
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 {% block title %}{% translate "cscherr.de" %} - {% translate "startpage" %}{% endblock title %}
 {% block main %}
 <div class="jumbotron text-center">
-    <h1>404 {% translate "Bad request" %}</h1>
+    <h1>400 {% translate "Bad request" %}</h1>
     <p>{% translate "You sent bad data to the server." %}</p>
 </div>
 <div class="container text-center jumbotron my-5" py-5>
diff --git a/gawa/start/templates/errors/403.html b/gawa/start/templates/errors/403.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e8e75e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gawa/start/templates/errors/403.html
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{% extends 'base.html' %}
+{% load i18n %}
+{% get_current_language as LANGUAGE_CODE %}
+{% block languagecode %}{{ LANGUAGE_CODE }}{% endblock languagecode %}
+{% block title %}{% translate "cscherr.de" %} - {% translate "startpage" %}{% endblock title %}
+{% block main %}
+<div class="jumbotron text-center">
+    <h1>403 {% translate "Permission denied" %}</h1>
+    <p>{% translate "You are not allowed to access this page." %}</p>
+</div>
+<div class="container text-center jumbotron my-5" py-5>
+    <h1 class="my-4">{% translate "Looking for anything specific?" %}</h1>
+    {% include 'main_search_form.html' %}
+</div>
+{% endblock main %}
diff --git a/gawa/start/views.py b/gawa/start/views.py
index 8dfd2d7..dc1d222 100644
--- a/gawa/start/views.py
+++ b/gawa/start/views.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from django.http import HttpResponseBadRequest, HttpResponseForbidden, HttpResponseNotAllowed, HttpResponseNotFound, HttpResponseServerError
 from django.shortcuts import redirect
 from django.utils import translation
 from django.views.generic.base import View
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@ from django.views import View
 from django.shortcuts import render
 from django.views.generic.list import QuerySet
 from django.db.models import Q
+from django.views.static import loader
 from requests import request
 
 from .forms import MainSearchForm
@@ -110,10 +112,19 @@ def Error400(request, exception):
     """
 
     template_name = "errors/400.html"
-    data = {
-            'exception': exception
-            }
-    return render(request, template_name, data, status=400)
+    t = loader.get_template(template_name)
+    data = {'exception': exception}
+    return HttpResponseBadRequest(t.render(data, request), content_type='application/xhtml+xml')
+
+def Error403(request, exception):
+    """
+    403 View, the user has been denied permission
+    """
+
+    template_name = "errors/403.html"
+    t = loader.get_template(template_name)
+    data = {'exception': exception}
+    return HttpResponseForbidden(t.render(data, request), content_type='application/xhtml+xml')
 
 def Error404(request, exception):
     """
@@ -123,10 +134,9 @@ def Error404(request, exception):
     """
 
     template_name = "errors/404.html"
-    data = {
-            'exception': exception
-            }
-    return render(request, template_name, data, status=404)
+    t = loader.get_template(template_name)
+    data = {'exception': exception}
+    return HttpResponseNotFound(t.render(data, request), content_type='application/xhtml+xml')
 
 def Error500(request):
     """
@@ -136,6 +146,7 @@ def Error500(request):
     """
 
     template_name = "errors/500.html"
+    t = loader.get_template(template_name)
     data = {}
-    return render(request, template_name, data, status=500)
+    return HttpResponseServerError(t.render(data, request), content_type='application/xhtml+xml')