diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 5b928337..3d8ebb00 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -26,6 +26,30 @@ PORT_MAILPIT_SMTP=1025
 # Generate with: python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))"
 OCR_TRAINING_TOKEN=change-me-in-production
 
+# --- Observability ---
+# Optional stack — start with: docker compose -f docker-compose.observability.yml up -d
+# Requires the main stack to already be running (docker compose up -d creates archiv-net).
+
+# Ports for host access
+PORT_GRAFANA=3001
+PORT_GLITCHTIP=3002
+PORT_PROMETHEUS=9090
+
+# GlitchTip domain — production: use https://grafana.raddatz.cloud (must match Caddy vhost)
+GLITCHTIP_DOMAIN=http://localhost:3002
+
+# GlitchTip secret key — Django SECRET_KEY equivalent, used to sign sessions and tokens.
+# REQUIRED in production — must not be empty or 'changeme'. Fail-closed: GlitchTip will
+# refuse to start with an invalid key.
+# Generate with: python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(50))"
+GLITCHTIP_SECRET_KEY=changeme-generate-a-real-secret
+
+# Error reporting DSNs — leave empty to disable the SDK (safe default).
+# SENTRY_DSN: backend (Spring Boot) — used by the GlitchTip/Sentry Java SDK
+SENTRY_DSN=
+# VITE_SENTRY_DSN: frontend (SvelteKit) — injected at build time via Vite
+VITE_SENTRY_DSN=
+
 # Production SMTP — uncomment and fill in to send real emails instead of catching them
 # APP_BASE_URL=https://your-domain.example.com
 # MAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
diff --git a/docker-compose.observability.yml b/docker-compose.observability.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..461f2905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.observability.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# Observability stack — Grafana LGTM + GlitchTip
+#
+# Requires the main stack to be running first:
+#   docker compose up -d                                    # creates archiv-net
+#   docker compose -f docker-compose.observability.yml up -d
+#
+# To validate without starting:
+#   docker compose -f docker-compose.observability.yml config
+
+# No services defined yet — added in subsequent issues:
+#
+#   --- Metrics: Prometheus ---
+#   prometheus: (see issue #573)
+#
+#   --- Logs: Loki + Promtail ---
+#   loki: (see issue #574)
+#   promtail: (see issue #575)
+#
+#   --- Traces: Tempo ---
+#   tempo: (see future issue)
+#
+#   --- Dashboards: Grafana ---
+#   grafana: (see future issue)
+#
+#   --- Error Tracking: GlitchTip ---
+#   glitchtip: (see future issue)
+services: {}
+
+networks:
+  # Shared network created by the main docker-compose.yml.
+  # The observability stack joins as a peer so Prometheus can scrape
+  # archive-backend by container name. The observability stack must NOT
+  # attempt to create this network — it will fail with a clear error if
+  # the main stack is not running yet.
+  archiv-net:
+    external: true
+
+  # Internal network for observability-service-to-service traffic
+  # (e.g. Grafana → Prometheus, Grafana → Loki, Grafana → Tempo).
+  obs-net:
+    driver: bridge
+
+volumes:
+  prometheus_data:
+  loki_data:
+  tempo_data:
+  grafana_data:
+  glitchtip_data:
diff --git a/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md b/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
index 58d2769e..1bfb49e1 100644
--- a/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
+++ b/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
@@ -256,9 +256,9 @@ docker compose logs --tail=200 <service>
 - **Spring Actuator health**: `http://localhost:8080/actuator/health` (internal only in prod — port 8081 for Prometheus scraping)
 - **Prometheus scraping**: management port 8081, path `/actuator/prometheus`. Internal only; Caddy blocks `/actuator/*` externally.
 
-### Future observability
+### Observability stack
 
-Phase 7 of the Production v1 milestone adds Prometheus + Loki + Grafana. No monitoring infrastructure is in place yet.
+An observability stack (Prometheus + Loki + Grafana) is available via `docker-compose.observability.yml` and configuration lives under `infra/observability/`. It joins the `archiv-net` Docker network to scrape the backend's management port. Full wiring and runbook documentation is tracked in issue #581.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/docs/architecture/c4/l2-containers.puml b/docs/architecture/c4/l2-containers.puml
index 367b7d93..f27eda69 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/c4/l2-containers.puml
+++ b/docs/architecture/c4/l2-containers.puml
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ System_Boundary(archiv, "Familienarchiv (Docker Compose)") {
     Container(mc, "Bucket / Service-Account Init", "MinIO Client (mc)", "One-shot container on startup. Idempotent: creates the archive bucket, the archiv-app service account, and attaches the readwrite policy.")
 }
 
+System_Boundary(observability, "Observability Stack (docker-compose.observability.yml / archiv-net)") {
+    Container(prometheus, "Prometheus", "prom/prometheus", "Scrapes metrics from backend management port 8081 (/actuator/prometheus). Retention and alert rules TBD — see issue #581.")
+    Container(loki, "Loki", "grafana/loki", "Log aggregation. Receives structured logs from the stack. Wiring TBD — see issue #581.")
+    Container(grafana, "Grafana", "grafana/grafana", "Dashboards and alerting UI. Data sources: Prometheus + Loki. Wiring TBD — see issue #581.")
+}
+
 Rel(user, caddy, "HTTPS", "TLS 1.2/1.3")
 Rel(caddy, frontend, "Reverse proxies non-/api requests", "HTTP / loopback:3000")
 Rel(caddy, backend, "Reverse proxies /api/*", "HTTP / loopback:8080")
diff --git a/infra/observability/grafana/provisioning/dashboards/.gitkeep b/infra/observability/grafana/provisioning/dashboards/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/infra/observability/grafana/provisioning/datasources/.gitkeep b/infra/observability/grafana/provisioning/datasources/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/infra/observability/loki/.gitkeep b/infra/observability/loki/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/infra/observability/prometheus/.gitkeep b/infra/observability/prometheus/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/infra/observability/promtail/.gitkeep b/infra/observability/promtail/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/infra/observability/tempo/.gitkeep b/infra/observability/tempo/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b