diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/search/RestClientNlpClient.java b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/search/RestClientNlpClient.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d058e470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/search/RestClientNlpClient.java
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+package org.raddatz.familienarchiv.search;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+import org.raddatz.familienarchiv.exception.DomainException;
+import org.raddatz.familienarchiv.exception.ErrorCode;
+import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
+import org.springframework.http.client.JdkClientHttpRequestFactory;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
+import org.springframework.web.client.RestClient;
+
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
+import java.time.format.DateTimeParseException;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+@Service
+@Slf4j
+public class RestClientNlpClient implements NlpClient, NlpHealthClient {
+
+    private static final Set<String> VALID_ROLES = Set.of("sender", "receiver", "any");
+    private static final int MAX_NAME_LENGTH = 200;
+    private static final int MAX_KEYWORD_LENGTH = 100;
+
+    private final RestClient parseClient;
+    private final RestClient healthRestClient;
+
+    public RestClientNlpClient(NlpProperties props) {
+        HttpClient parseHttp = HttpClient.newBuilder()
+                .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1)
+                .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
+                .build();
+        JdkClientHttpRequestFactory parseFactory = new JdkClientHttpRequestFactory(parseHttp);
+        parseFactory.setReadTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(props.getTimeoutSeconds()));
+        this.parseClient = RestClient.builder()
+                .baseUrl(props.getBaseUrl())
+                .requestFactory(parseFactory)
+                .build();
+
+        HttpClient healthHttp = HttpClient.newBuilder()
+                .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1)
+                .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(props.getHealthCheckTimeoutSeconds()))
+                .build();
+        JdkClientHttpRequestFactory healthFactory = new JdkClientHttpRequestFactory(healthHttp);
+        healthFactory.setReadTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(props.getHealthCheckTimeoutSeconds()));
+        this.healthRestClient = RestClient.builder()
+                .baseUrl(props.getBaseUrl())
+                .requestFactory(healthFactory)
+                .build();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public NlpExtraction parse(String query, String lang) {
+        try {
+            NlpParseRequest request = new NlpParseRequest(query, lang);
+            NlpParseResponse response = parseClient.post()
+                    .uri("/parse")
+                    .contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
+                    .body(request)
+                    .retrieve()
+                    .body(NlpParseResponse.class);
+            return toExtraction(response, query);
+        } catch (DomainException e) {
+            throw e;
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            log.warn("NLP service inference failed: {}", e.getClass().getSimpleName());
+            throw DomainException.serviceUnavailable(ErrorCode.SMART_SEARCH_UNAVAILABLE,
+                    "NLP service unavailable: " + e.getClass().getSimpleName());
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isHealthy() {
+        try {
+            NlpHealthResponse resp = healthRestClient.get()
+                    .uri("/health")
+                    .retrieve()
+                    .body(NlpHealthResponse.class);
+            return resp != null && resp.personsLoaded() > 0;
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private NlpExtraction toExtraction(NlpParseResponse response, String rawQuery) {
+        if (response == null) {
+            return fallbackExtraction(rawQuery);
+        }
+        List<String> names = response.personNames() == null ? List.of() : response.personNames().stream()
+                .filter(n -> n != null && n.length() <= MAX_NAME_LENGTH)
+                .toList();
+        List<String> keywords = response.keywords() == null ? List.of() : response.keywords().stream()
+                .filter(k -> k != null && k.length() <= MAX_KEYWORD_LENGTH)
+                .toList();
+        String role = sanitiseRole(response.personRole());
+        LocalDate dateFrom = parseDate(response.dateFrom());
+        LocalDate dateTo = parseDate(response.dateTo());
+        return new NlpExtraction(names, role, dateFrom, dateTo, keywords, rawQuery);
+    }
+
+    private NlpExtraction fallbackExtraction(String rawQuery) {
+        return new NlpExtraction(List.of(), "any", null, null, List.of(), rawQuery);
+    }
+
+    private String sanitiseRole(String role) {
+        if (role != null && VALID_ROLES.contains(role)) {
+            return role;
+        }
+        log.warn("Unexpected personRole from NLP service: {}", role);
+        return "any";
+    }
+
+    private LocalDate parseDate(String raw) {
+        if (raw == null || raw.isBlank()) return null;
+        try {
+            return LocalDate.parse(raw, DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE);
+        } catch (DateTimeParseException ignored) {
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
+    private record NlpParseRequest(String query, String lang) {
+    }
+
+    @JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
+    private record NlpParseResponse(
+            @JsonProperty("personNames") List<String> personNames,
+            @JsonProperty("personRole") String personRole,
+            @JsonProperty("dateFrom") String dateFrom,
+            @JsonProperty("dateTo") String dateTo,
+            @JsonProperty("keywords") List<String> keywords
+    ) {
+    }
+
+    @JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
+    private record NlpHealthResponse(
+            @JsonProperty("persons_loaded") int personsLoaded
+    ) {
+    }
+}