diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/importing/DocumentTitleFormatter.java b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/importing/DocumentTitleFormatter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..65120004
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/importing/DocumentTitleFormatter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+package org.raddatz.familienarchiv.importing;
+
+import org.raddatz.familienarchiv.document.DatePrecision;
+
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
+import java.util.Locale;
+
+/**
+ * Produces the honest German date label baked into an import title — at exactly
+ * the precision the data claims, never finer. This is the Java half of the
+ * single source of truth shared with the frontend {@code formatDocumentDate}
+ * (TypeScript): both are asserted against {@code docs/date-label-fixtures.json}
+ * so the two implementations cannot drift (see #666).
+ *
+ * <p>Import titles are always German, so the labels here are the German
+ * canonical form (mirroring the {@code de} Paraglide messages used by the UI).
+ */
+final class DocumentTitleFormatter {
+
+    private static final DateTimeFormatter LONG = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("d. MMMM yyyy", Locale.GERMAN);
+    private static final DateTimeFormatter MONTH_YEAR = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("MMMM yyyy", Locale.GERMAN);
+    private static final DateTimeFormatter MEDIUM = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("d. MMM yyyy", Locale.GERMAN);
+    private static final DateTimeFormatter DAY_MONTH = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("d. MMM", Locale.GERMAN);
+
+    private static final String UNKNOWN = "Datum unbekannt";
+    private static final String APPROX_PREFIX = "ca.";
+    private static final String OPEN_RANGE_PREFIX = "ab";
+
+    private DocumentTitleFormatter() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param date the sort/filter anchor day; null for UNKNOWN rows
+     * @param precision descriptive precision metadata
+     * @param end the RANGE end day; null means an open-ended range
+     * @param raw the verbatim spreadsheet cell, used only to pick a season word
+     * @return the honest German label
+     */
+    static String formatTitleDate(LocalDate date, DatePrecision precision, LocalDate end, String raw) {
+        if (precision == DatePrecision.UNKNOWN || date == null) {
+            return UNKNOWN;
+        }
+        return switch (precision) {
+            case DAY -> LONG.format(date);
+            case MONTH -> MONTH_YEAR.format(date);
+            case SEASON -> seasonLabel(date, raw);
+            case YEAR -> String.valueOf(date.getYear());
+            case APPROX -> APPROX_PREFIX + " " + date.getYear();
+            case RANGE -> rangeLabel(date, end);
+            case UNKNOWN -> UNKNOWN;
+        };
+    }
+
+    private static String seasonLabel(LocalDate date, String raw) {
+        Season season = seasonFromRaw(raw);
+        if (season == null) {
+            season = seasonOfMonth(date.getMonthValue());
+        }
+        return season.german + " " + date.getYear();
+    }
+
+    private static String rangeLabel(LocalDate start, LocalDate end) {
+        if (end == null) {
+            return OPEN_RANGE_PREFIX + " " + MEDIUM.format(start);
+        }
+        if (end.equals(start)) {
+            return MEDIUM.format(start);
+        }
+        if (start.getYear() != end.getYear()) {
+            return MEDIUM.format(start) + " – " + MEDIUM.format(end);
+        }
+        if (start.getMonthValue() == end.getMonthValue()) {
+            return start.getDayOfMonth() + ".–" + MEDIUM.format(end);
+        }
+        return DAY_MONTH.format(start) + " – " + MEDIUM.format(end);
+    }
+
+    // ─── season mapping — mirrors the normalizer's representative months ─────────────
+
+    private enum Season {
+        SPRING("Frühling"),
+        SUMMER("Sommer"),
+        AUTUMN("Herbst"),
+        WINTER("Winter");
+
+        private final String german;
+
+        Season(String german) {
+            this.german = german;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static Season seasonOfMonth(int month) {
+        if (month >= 3 && month <= 5) return Season.SPRING;
+        if (month >= 6 && month <= 8) return Season.SUMMER;
+        if (month >= 9 && month <= 11) return Season.AUTUMN;
+        return Season.WINTER;
+    }
+
+    private static Season seasonFromRaw(String raw) {
+        if (raw == null || raw.isBlank()) return null;
+        String token = raw.trim().split("\\s+")[0].toLowerCase(Locale.GERMAN);
+        return switch (token) {
+            case "frühling", "frühjahr" -> Season.SPRING;
+            case "sommer" -> Season.SUMMER;
+            case "herbst" -> Season.AUTUMN;
+            case "winter" -> Season.WINTER;
+            default -> null;
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/importing/DocumentTitleFormatterTest.java b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/importing/DocumentTitleFormatterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8f66b6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/importing/DocumentTitleFormatterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package org.raddatz.familienarchiv.importing;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.DynamicTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestFactory;
+import org.raddatz.familienarchiv.document.DatePrecision;
+
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+/**
+ * Asserts the Java title label against the SAME shared fixture table the TS
+ * formatter spec uses ({@code docs/date-label-fixtures.json}). This is the
+ * drift guard requested in #666 review: the two label implementations cannot
+ * silently diverge (en-dash vs hyphen, "ca." vs "circa", season words, range
+ * collapse) because both are pinned to one committed rule set.
+ */
+class DocumentTitleFormatterTest {
+
+    @TestFactory
+    List<DynamicTest> matchesSharedFixtureTable() throws Exception {
+        // Maven runs tests from the backend/ module dir; the fixture lives at repo-root docs/.
+        Path fixture = Path.of("..", "docs", "date-label-fixtures.json");
+        JsonNode root = new ObjectMapper().readTree(Files.readString(fixture));
+        List<DynamicTest> tests = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (JsonNode c : root.get("cases")) {
+            String name = c.get("name").asText();
+            LocalDate anchor = parseDate(c.get("anchor"));
+            DatePrecision precision = DatePrecision.valueOf(c.get("precision").asText());
+            LocalDate end = parseDate(c.get("end"));
+            String raw = c.get("raw").isNull() ? null : c.get("raw").asText();
+            String expected = c.get("expected").asText();
+            tests.add(DynamicTest.dynamicTest(name, () ->
+                    assertThat(DocumentTitleFormatter.formatTitleDate(anchor, precision, end, raw))
+                            .isEqualTo(expected)));
+        }
+        return tests;
+    }
+
+    private static LocalDate parseDate(JsonNode node) {
+        return node == null || node.isNull() ? null : LocalDate.parse(node.asText());
+    }
+}