diff --git a/docker-compose-for-tests-preprocessing.yml b/docker-compose-for-tests-preprocessing.yml
index ec3c3aa28..77dbe8f71 100644
--- a/docker-compose-for-tests-preprocessing.yml
+++ b/docker-compose-for-tests-preprocessing.yml
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ services:
   silo:
     image: ${SILO_IMAGE}
     volumes:
-      - ./testBaseData:/data
+      - ./testBaseData/exampleDataset:/preprocessing/input
+      - ./testBaseData/output:/preprocessing/output
+      - ./testBaseData/exampleDataset/preprocessing_config.yaml:/app/preprocessing_config.yaml
+      - ./testBaseData/exampleDataset/test_database_config.yaml:/app/database_config.yaml
+      - ./logs:/app/logs
     command:
       - "--preprocessing"
-      - "--preprocessingConfig=./preprocessing_config_for_ci.yaml"
-      - "--databaseConfig=./test_database_config.yaml"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker_default_preprocessing_config.yaml b/docker_default_preprocessing_config.yaml
index dfa25b88b..fb40f9d2f 100644
--- a/docker_default_preprocessing_config.yaml
+++ b/docker_default_preprocessing_config.yaml
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 inputDirectory: "/preprocessing/input/"
+intermediateResultsDirectory: "/preprocessing/temp/"
 outputDirectory: "/preprocessing/output/"
diff --git a/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.h b/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.h
index 42fa1f5fd..8025acac9 100644
--- a/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.h
+++ b/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.h
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ struct OutputDirectory {
 };
 const OutputDirectory DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY = {"./output/"};
 
+struct IntermediateResultsDirectory {
+   std::string directory;
+};
+const OutputDirectory DEFAULT_INTERMEDIATE_RESULTS_DIRECTORY = {"./temp/"};
+
 struct MetadataFilename {
    std::string filename;
 };
@@ -51,25 +56,20 @@ struct SortedPartitionsFolder {
 };
 const SortedPartitionsFolder DEFAULT_SORTED_PARTITIONS_FOLDER = {"partitions_sorted/"};
 
-struct SerializedStateFolder {
-   std::string folder;
-};
-const SerializedStateFolder DEFAULT_SERIALIZED_STATE_FOLDER = {"serialized_state/"};
-
 struct ReferenceGenomeFilename {
    std::string filename;
 };
-const ReferenceGenomeFilename DEFAULT_REFERENCE_GENOME_FILENAME = {"reference-genomes.json"};
+const ReferenceGenomeFilename DEFAULT_REFERENCE_GENOME_FILENAME = {"reference_genomes.json"};
 
 class PreprocessingConfig {
    friend class fmt::formatter<silo::preprocessing::PreprocessingConfig>;
 
    std::filesystem::path input_directory;
+   std::filesystem::path output_directory;
    std::optional<std::filesystem::path> pango_lineage_definition_file;
    std::filesystem::path metadata_file;
    std::filesystem::path partition_folder;
    std::filesystem::path sorted_partition_folder;
-   std::filesystem::path serialization_folder;
    std::filesystem::path reference_genome_file;
    std::string nucleotide_sequence_prefix;
    std::string gene_prefix;
@@ -79,17 +79,19 @@ class PreprocessingConfig {
 
    explicit PreprocessingConfig(
       const InputDirectory& input_directory_,
+      const IntermediateResultsDirectory& intermediate_results_directory_,
       const OutputDirectory& output_directory_,
       const MetadataFilename& metadata_filename_,
       const PangoLineageDefinitionFilename& pango_lineage_definition_filename_,
       const PartitionsFolder& partition_folder_,
       const SortedPartitionsFolder& sorted_partition_folder_,
-      const SerializedStateFolder& serialization_folder_,
       const ReferenceGenomeFilename& reference_genome_filename_,
       const NucleotideSequencePrefix& nucleotide_sequence_prefix_,
       const GenePrefix& gene_prefix_
    );
 
+   [[nodiscard]] std::filesystem::path getOutputDirectory() const;
+
    [[nodiscard]] std::optional<std::filesystem::path> getPangoLineageDefinitionFilename() const;
 
    [[nodiscard]] std::filesystem::path getReferenceGenomeFilename() const;
diff --git a/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.h b/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.h
index 59d5586d8..7cabd5eb2 100644
--- a/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.h
+++ b/include/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ struct PreprocessingConfig;
 struct OptionalPreprocessingConfig {
    std::optional<std::filesystem::path> input_directory;
    std::optional<std::filesystem::path> output_directory;
+   std::optional<std::filesystem::path> intermediate_results_directory;
    std::optional<std::filesystem::path> metadata_file;
    std::optional<std::filesystem::path> pango_lineage_definition_file;
    std::optional<std::filesystem::path> partition_folder;
diff --git a/src/silo/database.test.cpp b/src/silo/database.test.cpp
index 09f0c4c31..bc619c424 100644
--- a/src/silo/database.test.cpp
+++ b/src/silo/database.test.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #include "silo/database.h"
 
+#include "filesystem"
+
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
 #include "silo/common/nucleotide_symbols.h"
@@ -100,9 +102,15 @@ TEST(DatabaseTest, shouldReturnCorrectDatabaseInfo) {
 TEST(DatabaseTest, shouldSaveAndReloadDatabaseWithoutErrors) {
    auto first_database = buildTestDatabase();
 
-   first_database.saveDatabaseState("output/serialized_state/");
+   const std::string directory = "output/test_serialized_state/";
+   if (std::filesystem::exists(directory)) {
+      std::filesystem::remove_all(directory);
+   }
+   std::filesystem::create_directories(directory);
+
+   first_database.saveDatabaseState(directory);
 
-   auto database = silo::Database::loadDatabaseState("output/serialized_state/");
+   auto database = silo::Database::loadDatabaseState(directory);
 
    const auto simple_database_info = database.getDatabaseInfo();
 
diff --git a/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.cpp b/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.cpp
index 9629c9592..da96ce0c0 100644
--- a/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.cpp
+++ b/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config.cpp
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@ PreprocessingConfig::PreprocessingConfig() = default;
 
 PreprocessingConfig::PreprocessingConfig(
    const InputDirectory& input_directory_,
+   const IntermediateResultsDirectory& intermediate_results_directory_,
    const OutputDirectory& output_directory_,
    const MetadataFilename& metadata_filename_,
    const PangoLineageDefinitionFilename& pango_lineage_definition_filename_,
    const PartitionsFolder& partition_folder_,
    const SortedPartitionsFolder& sorted_partition_folder_,
-   const SerializedStateFolder& serialization_folder_,
    const ReferenceGenomeFilename& reference_genome_filename_,
    const NucleotideSequencePrefix& nucleotide_sequence_prefix_,
    const GenePrefix& gene_prefix_
@@ -72,18 +72,29 @@ PreprocessingConfig::PreprocessingConfig(
    }
    reference_genome_file = createPath(input_directory, reference_genome_filename_.filename);
 
-   const std::filesystem::path output_directory(output_directory_.directory);
    if (!std::filesystem::exists(output_directory_.directory)) {
       std::filesystem::create_directory(output_directory_.directory);
    }
+   this->output_directory = output_directory_.directory;
 
-   partition_folder = createOutputPath(output_directory, partition_folder_.folder);
-   sorted_partition_folder = createOutputPath(output_directory, sorted_partition_folder_.folder);
-   serialization_folder = createOutputPath(output_directory, serialization_folder_.folder);
+   const std::filesystem::path intermediate_results_directory(
+      intermediate_results_directory_.directory
+   );
+   if (!std::filesystem::exists(intermediate_results_directory_.directory)) {
+      std::filesystem::create_directory(intermediate_results_directory_.directory);
+   }
+
+   partition_folder = createOutputPath(intermediate_results_directory, partition_folder_.folder);
+   sorted_partition_folder =
+      createOutputPath(intermediate_results_directory, sorted_partition_folder_.folder);
    nucleotide_sequence_prefix = nucleotide_sequence_prefix_.prefix;
    gene_prefix = gene_prefix_.prefix;
 }
 
+std::filesystem::path PreprocessingConfig::getOutputDirectory() const {
+   return output_directory;
+}
+
 std::optional<std::filesystem::path> PreprocessingConfig::getPangoLineageDefinitionFilename(
 ) const {
    return pango_lineage_definition_file;
@@ -233,18 +244,18 @@ std::filesystem::path PreprocessingConfig::getGeneSortedPartitionFilename(
 ) -> decltype(ctx.out()) {
    return format_to(
       ctx.out(),
-      "{{ input directory: '{}', pango_lineage_definition_file: {}, "
+      "{{ input directory: '{}', pango_lineage_definition_file: {}, output_directory: '{}', "
       "metadata_file: '{}', partition_folder: '{}', sorted_partition_folder: '{}', "
-      "serialization_folder: '{}', reference_genome_file: '{}',  gene_file_prefix: '{}',  "
+      "reference_genome_file: '{}',  gene_file_prefix: '{}',  "
       "nucleotide_sequence_file_prefix: '{}' }}",
       preprocessing_config.input_directory.string(),
+      preprocessing_config.output_directory.string(),
       preprocessing_config.pango_lineage_definition_file.has_value()
          ? "'" + preprocessing_config.pango_lineage_definition_file->string() + "'"
          : "none",
       preprocessing_config.metadata_file.string(),
       preprocessing_config.partition_folder.string(),
       preprocessing_config.sorted_partition_folder.string(),
-      preprocessing_config.serialization_folder.string(),
       preprocessing_config.reference_genome_file.string(),
       preprocessing_config.nucleotide_sequence_prefix,
       preprocessing_config.gene_prefix
diff --git a/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.cpp b/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.cpp
index 1f5b20813..6907d59c9 100644
--- a/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.cpp
+++ b/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ using silo::preprocessing::OutputDirectory;
 using silo::preprocessing::PangoLineageDefinitionFilename;
 using silo::preprocessing::PartitionsFolder;
 using silo::preprocessing::ReferenceGenomeFilename;
-using silo::preprocessing::SerializedStateFolder;
 using silo::preprocessing::SortedPartitionsFolder;
 
 namespace YAML {
@@ -34,6 +33,7 @@ struct convert<OptionalPreprocessingConfig> {
       config = OptionalPreprocessingConfig(
          extractStringIfPresent(node, "inputDirectory"),
          extractStringIfPresent(node, "outputDirectory"),
+         extractStringIfPresent(node, "intermediateResultsDirectory"),
          extractStringIfPresent(node, "metadataFilename"),
          extractStringIfPresent(node, "pangoLineageDefinitionFilename"),
          extractStringIfPresent(node, "partitionsFolder"),
@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@ PreprocessingConfig OptionalPreprocessingConfig::mergeValuesFromOrDefault(
       InputDirectory{input_directory.value_or(
          other.input_directory.value_or(silo::preprocessing::DEFAULT_INPUT_DIRECTORY.directory)
       )},
+      IntermediateResultsDirectory{
+         intermediate_results_directory.value_or(other.intermediate_results_directory.value_or(
+            silo::preprocessing::DEFAULT_INTERMEDIATE_RESULTS_DIRECTORY.directory
+         ))},
       OutputDirectory{output_directory.value_or(
          other.output_directory.value_or(silo::preprocessing::DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY.directory)
       )},
@@ -81,9 +85,6 @@ PreprocessingConfig OptionalPreprocessingConfig::mergeValuesFromOrDefault(
          sorted_partition_folder.value_or(other.sorted_partition_folder.value_or(
             silo::preprocessing::DEFAULT_SORTED_PARTITIONS_FOLDER.folder
          ))},
-      SerializedStateFolder{serialization_folder.value_or(other.serialization_folder.value_or(
-         silo::preprocessing::DEFAULT_SERIALIZED_STATE_FOLDER.folder
-      ))},
       ReferenceGenomeFilename{reference_genome_file.value_or(other.reference_genome_file.value_or(
          silo::preprocessing::DEFAULT_REFERENCE_GENOME_FILENAME.filename
       ))},
diff --git a/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.test.cpp b/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.test.cpp
index c450698d5..fc53454fb 100644
--- a/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.test.cpp
+++ b/src/silo/preprocessing/preprocessing_config_reader.test.cpp
@@ -19,26 +19,26 @@ TEST(PreprocessingConfigReader, shouldReadConfigWithCorrectParametersAndDefaults
    );
 
    const std::string input_directory = "./testBaseData/exampleDataset/";
-   const std::string output_directory = "./output/";
+   const std::string intermediate_directory = "./temp/";
    ASSERT_EQ(config.getMetadataInputFilename(), input_directory + "small_metadata_set.tsv");
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getPangoLineageDefinitionFilename(), input_directory + "pangolineage_alias.json"
    );
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getNucPartitionFilename("dummy", 0, 0),
-      output_directory + "partitions/nuc_dummy/P0_C0.zstdfasta"
+      intermediate_directory + "partitions/nuc_dummy/P0_C0.zstdfasta"
    );
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getGenePartitionFilename("dummy2", 0, 0),
-      output_directory + "partitions/gene_dummy2/P0_C0.zstdfasta"
+      intermediate_directory + "partitions/gene_dummy2/P0_C0.zstdfasta"
    );
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getNucSortedPartitionFilename("dummy", 2, 1),
-      output_directory + "partitions_sorted/nuc_dummy/P2_C1.zstdfasta"
+      intermediate_directory + "partitions_sorted/nuc_dummy/P2_C1.zstdfasta"
    );
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getGeneSortedPartitionFilename("dummy", 2, 1),
-      output_directory + "partitions_sorted/gene_dummy/P2_C1.zstdfasta"
+      intermediate_directory + "partitions_sorted/gene_dummy/P2_C1.zstdfasta"
    );
 }
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ TEST(PreprocessingConfigReader, shouldReadConfigWithOverriddenDefaults) {
    );
 
    const std::string input_directory = "./testBaseData/exampleDataset/";
-   const std::string output_directory = "./output/";
+   const std::string intermediate_directory = "./output/overriddenTemp/";
    ASSERT_EQ(config.getMetadataInputFilename(), input_directory + "small_metadata_set.tsv");
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getPangoLineageDefinitionFilename(), input_directory + "pangolineage_alias.json"
@@ -68,12 +68,13 @@ TEST(PreprocessingConfigReader, shouldReadConfigWithOverriddenDefaults) {
    ASSERT_EQ(config.getNucFilename("aligned"), input_directory + "aligned.fasta");
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getNucPartitionFilename("aligned", 0, 1),
-      output_directory + "folder1/aligned/P0_C1.zstdfasta"
+      intermediate_directory + "folder1/aligned/P0_C1.zstdfasta"
    );
    ASSERT_EQ(
       config.getNucSortedPartitionFilename("aligned", 2, 3),
-      output_directory + "folder2/aligned/P2_C3.zstdfasta"
+      intermediate_directory + "folder2/aligned/P2_C3.zstdfasta"
    );
+   ASSERT_EQ(config.getOutputDirectory(), "./output/custom/");
 }
 
 TEST(OptionalPreprocessingConfig, givenLeftHandSideHasValueThenMergeTakesLeftHandSideValue) {
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ TEST(OptionalPreprocessingConfig, givenLeftHandSideHasValueThenMergeTakesLeftHan
 
    ASSERT_EQ(
       result.getGeneFilename("dummy"),
-      std::filesystem::path("./testBaseData/leftTestPrefix_dummy.fasta")
+      std::filesystem::path("./testBaseData/exampleDataset/leftTestPrefix_dummy.fasta")
    );
 }
 
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ TEST(OptionalPreprocessingConfig, givenLeftHandSideHasNotValueThenMergeTakesRigh
 
    ASSERT_EQ(
       result.getGeneFilename("dummy"),
-      std::filesystem::path("./testBaseData/rightTestPrefix_dummy.fasta")
+      std::filesystem::path("./testBaseData/exampleDataset/rightTestPrefix_dummy.fasta")
    );
 }
 
@@ -113,6 +114,7 @@ TEST(OptionalPreprocessingConfig, givenNeitherSideHasValueThenMergeTakesDefaultV
    const auto result = left.mergeValuesFromOrDefault(right);
 
    ASSERT_EQ(
-      result.getGeneFilename("dummy"), std::filesystem::path("./testBaseData/gene_dummy.fasta")
+      result.getGeneFilename("dummy"),
+      std::filesystem::path("./testBaseData/exampleDataset/gene_dummy.fasta")
    );
 }
diff --git a/src/silo_api/api.cpp b/src/silo_api/api.cpp
index f73e96ebf..fb9d3fd37 100644
--- a/src/silo_api/api.cpp
+++ b/src/silo_api/api.cpp
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ class SiloServer : public Poco::Util::ServerApplication {
       auto database_preprocessing =
          silo::Database::preprocessing(preprocessing_config, database_config);
 
-      database_preprocessing.saveDatabaseState(preprocessing_config.getSerializedStateFolder());
+      database_preprocessing.saveDatabaseState(preprocessing_config.getOutputDirectory());
 
       return Application::EXIT_OK;
    };
diff --git a/testBaseData/exampleDataset/preprocessing_config.yaml b/testBaseData/exampleDataset/preprocessing_config.yaml
index 9bbd33390..ce690ea9d 100644
--- a/testBaseData/exampleDataset/preprocessing_config.yaml
+++ b/testBaseData/exampleDataset/preprocessing_config.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-inputDirectory: "./"
-outputDirectory: "./output/"
 metadataFilename: "small_metadata_set.tsv"
 pangoLineageDefinitionFilename: "pangolineage_alias.json"
 referenceGenomeFilename: "reference_genomes.json"
diff --git a/testBaseData/test_preprocessing_config_with_overridden_defaults.yaml b/testBaseData/test_preprocessing_config_with_overridden_defaults.yaml
index 4b84137f6..268383ce6 100644
--- a/testBaseData/test_preprocessing_config_with_overridden_defaults.yaml
+++ b/testBaseData/test_preprocessing_config_with_overridden_defaults.yaml
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 inputDirectory: "./testBaseData/exampleDataset/"
-outputDirectory: "./output/"
+outputDirectory: "./output/custom/"
+intermediateResultsDirectory: "./output/overriddenTemp/"
 metadataFilename: "small_metadata_set.tsv"
 pangoLineageDefinitionFilename: "pangolineage_alias.json"
 referenceGenomeFilename: "reference_genomes.json"
 partitionsFolder: "folder1/"
 sortedPartitionsFolder: "folder2/"
-serializedStateFolder: "folder3/"
 genePrefix: "aaSeq_"
 nucleotideSequencePrefix: ""
\ No newline at end of file