diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V53__add_thumbnail_aspect_and_page_count.sql b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V53__add_thumbnail_aspect_and_page_count.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..53d39dc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V53__add_thumbnail_aspect_and_page_count.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+-- Adds two nullable metadata columns populated by ThumbnailService when it
+-- generates the JPEG preview: thumbnail_aspect (PORTRAIT | LANDSCAPE, from the
+-- source image w/h ratio with threshold 1.1) and page_count (from PDDocument
+-- for PDFs, 1 for image uploads). Both are null until the existing admin
+-- backfill endpoint (/api/admin/generate-thumbnails) reruns the service.
+ALTER TABLE documents
+    ADD COLUMN thumbnail_aspect VARCHAR(16),
+    ADD COLUMN page_count INTEGER;
diff --git a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java
index b482a0be..e751b85d 100644
--- a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java
@@ -302,6 +302,51 @@ class MigrationIntegrationTest {
         ).isInstanceOf(DataIntegrityViolationException.class);
     }
 
+    // ─── V53: add thumbnail_aspect + page_count columns to documents ─────────
+
+    @Test
+    void v53_thumbnailAspectColumn_existsAndIsNullable() {
+        UUID docId = createDocument();
+
+        // Column must exist and accept NULL (freshly-created doc has no thumbnail yet)
+        String aspect = jdbc.queryForObject(
+                "SELECT thumbnail_aspect FROM documents WHERE id = ?", String.class, docId);
+        assertThat(aspect).isNull();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void v53_pageCountColumn_existsAndIsNullable() {
+        UUID docId = createDocument();
+
+        Integer pageCount = jdbc.queryForObject(
+                "SELECT page_count FROM documents WHERE id = ?", Integer.class, docId);
+        assertThat(pageCount).isNull();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void v53_thumbnailAspectColumn_acceptsPortraitAndLandscape() {
+        UUID docId = createDocument();
+
+        int portraitRows = jdbc.update(
+                "UPDATE documents SET thumbnail_aspect = 'PORTRAIT' WHERE id = ?", docId);
+        assertThat(portraitRows).isEqualTo(1);
+
+        int landscapeRows = jdbc.update(
+                "UPDATE documents SET thumbnail_aspect = 'LANDSCAPE' WHERE id = ?", docId);
+        assertThat(landscapeRows).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void v53_pageCountColumn_storesInteger() {
+        UUID docId = createDocument();
+
+        jdbc.update("UPDATE documents SET page_count = 4 WHERE id = ?", docId);
+
+        Integer stored = jdbc.queryForObject(
+                "SELECT page_count FROM documents WHERE id = ?", Integer.class, docId);
+        assertThat(stored).isEqualTo(4);
+    }
+
     // ─── V51: backfill annotation_id on block comments and notifications ─────
 
     @Test