diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/Person.java b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/Person.java
index 993480c4..84058e2f 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/Person.java
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/Person.java
@@ -52,6 +52,13 @@ public class Person {
     private Integer birthYear;
     private Integer deathYear;
 
+    // Hand-curated generation index from canonical-persons.xlsx (G 0 = oldest).
+    // Nullable for persons outside the curated family graph. Drives the
+    // Stammbaum strict-rank seed (see #689) and re-import preserves human
+    // edits via PersonService.preferHuman (ADR-025).
+    @Column(name = "generation")
+    private Integer generation;
+
     @Column(name = "family_member", nullable = false)
     @Builder.Default
     @Schema(requiredMode = Schema.RequiredMode.REQUIRED)
diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V70__add_generation_to_persons.sql b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V70__add_generation_to_persons.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..acb39b30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V70__add_generation_to_persons.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+-- #689: persist the hand-curated "G 0…G 5" generation index from
+-- canonical-persons.xlsx so the Stammbaum layout can use it as a strict
+-- rank anchor (replacing the current iterative longest-path heuristic that
+-- silently misplaces loose spouses with their own parents in the graph).
+--
+-- Nullable: pre-import rows and persons outside the curated family graph
+-- legitimately have no generation. The canonical importer back-fills via
+-- preferHuman on the next run; a human-edited value is never overwritten
+-- (see ADR-025).
+
+ALTER TABLE persons ADD COLUMN generation SMALLINT;
+
+-- Allowlist of valid generation indices. The upper bound is intentionally
+-- loose — current data tops out at G 5, but a future G 6 → G 10 widening
+-- needs no migration. A G −1 ancestor would require a separate one-shot
+-- shift migration (out of scope here; the layout's normalise step already
+-- handles negative seeds at render time).
+ALTER TABLE persons ADD CONSTRAINT chk_generation_range
+    CHECK (generation IS NULL OR generation BETWEEN 0 AND 10);
+
+-- Partial index: only the curated rows (≈ 163 of 1,105) ever get a value,
+-- and the layout only ever queries for non-null rows.
+CREATE INDEX idx_persons_generation ON persons (generation)
+    WHERE generation IS NOT NULL;
diff --git a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonRepositoryTest.java b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonRepositoryTest.java
index 910e701e..add05ed7 100644
--- a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonRepositoryTest.java
+++ b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/person/PersonRepositoryTest.java
@@ -672,4 +672,39 @@ class PersonRepositoryTest {
 
         assertThat(slice.get(0).getDocumentCount()).isEqualTo(1);
     }
+
+    // ─── generation column (#689) ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    @Test
+    void save_persistsGeneration_andFindByIdReturnsSameGeneration() {
+        Person person = Person.builder()
+                .firstName("Walter")
+                .lastName("Raddatz")
+                .generation(3)
+                .build();
+
+        Person saved = personRepository.save(person);
+        entityManager.flush();
+        entityManager.clear();
+
+        Optional<Person> found = personRepository.findById(saved.getId());
+        assertThat(found).isPresent();
+        assertThat(found.get().getGeneration()).isEqualTo(3);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void save_allowsNullGeneration_existingRowsRemainNull() {
+        Person person = Person.builder()
+                .firstName("Anonym")
+                .lastName("Person")
+                .build();
+
+        Person saved = personRepository.save(person);
+        entityManager.flush();
+        entityManager.clear();
+
+        Optional<Person> found = personRepository.findById(saved.getId());
+        assertThat(found).isPresent();
+        assertThat(found.get().getGeneration()).isNull();
+    }
 }