diff --git a/src/collections/Posts/index.ts b/src/collections/Posts/index.ts
index 243a8b6..094e604 100644
--- a/src/collections/Posts/index.ts
+++ b/src/collections/Posts/index.ts
@@ -138,6 +138,15 @@ export const Posts: CollectionConfig<'posts'> = {
                   'Shared labels, category colors, meta copy, sidebar CTA, and related-article labels for the Presse detail route.',
               },
               fields: [
+                {
+                  name: 'fallbackImage',
+                  type: 'upload',
+                  relationTo: 'media',
+                  label: 'Fallback hero image',
+                  admin: {
+                    description: `Current frontend fallback image: /images/${blogDetailContent.fallbackImageFilename}`,
+                  },
+                },
                 {
                   name: 'notFound',
                   label: 'Not found state',
diff --git a/src/payload-types.ts b/src/payload-types.ts
index 927372b..88643c1 100644
--- a/src/payload-types.ts
+++ b/src/payload-types.ts
@@ -2139,6 +2139,10 @@ export interface Post {
    * Shared labels, category colors, meta copy, sidebar CTA, and related-article labels for the Presse detail route.
    */
   detailPage?: {
+    /**
+     * Current frontend fallback image: /images/gala-saal-overview.jpg
+     */
+    fallbackImage?: (number | null) | Media;
     notFound?: {
       title?: string | null;
       backLabel?: string | null;
@@ -4998,6 +5002,7 @@ export interface PostsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
   detailPage?:
     | T
     | {
+        fallbackImage?: T;
         notFound?:
           | T
           | {
diff --git a/src/scripts/preload-blog-detail-cms.ts b/src/scripts/preload-blog-detail-cms.ts
index 11fc748..044bbee 100644
--- a/src/scripts/preload-blog-detail-cms.ts
+++ b/src/scripts/preload-blog-detail-cms.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,24 @@
 import 'dotenv/config'
 
 import config from '@payload-config'
-import { getPayload } from 'payload'
+import { getPayload, type Payload } from 'payload'
 
 import { blogDetailContent } from '@/spa/blogDetailContent'
 
+const mediaByFilename = async (payload: Payload, filename: string) => {
+  const result = await payload.find({
+    collection: 'media',
+    limit: 1,
+    pagination: false,
+    where: { filename: { equals: filename } },
+  })
+  return result.docs[0]?.id
+}
+
 async function main() {
   const payload = await getPayload({ config })
+  const fallbackImage = await mediaByFilename(payload, blogDetailContent.fallbackImageFilename)
+  const { fallbackImageFilename: _fallbackImageFilename, ...detailContent } = blogDetailContent
 
   const posts = await payload.find({
     collection: 'posts',
@@ -25,7 +37,8 @@ async function main() {
         context: { disableRevalidate: true },
         data: {
           detailPage: {
-            ...blogDetailContent,
+            ...detailContent,
+            fallbackImage,
             metaCopy: blogDetailContent.meta,
           },
         } as never,
diff --git a/src/spa/blogDetailContent.ts b/src/spa/blogDetailContent.ts
index f9962ec..dfec19a 100644
--- a/src/spa/blogDetailContent.ts
+++ b/src/spa/blogDetailContent.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 export const blogDetailContent = {
+  fallbackImageFilename: 'gala-saal-overview.jpg',
   notFound: {
     title: 'Artikel nicht gefunden',
     backLabel: 'Zurück zur Presse',
diff --git a/src/spa/pages/BlogDetail.tsx b/src/spa/pages/BlogDetail.tsx
index 391ad24..336b1ec 100644
--- a/src/spa/pages/BlogDetail.tsx
+++ b/src/spa/pages/BlogDetail.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { ArrowLeft, Clock, User, Tag, ArrowRight } from 'lucide-react';
 import { motion } from 'framer-motion';
 import { getArticleBySlug, articles, type BlogArticle, type BlogSection } from '@/spa/data/blog';
 import { useCmsRoute } from '@/spa/cmsRoute';
-import { docImageUrl } from '@/spa/cmsMediaField';
+import { docImageUrl, mediaUrl } from '@/spa/cmsMediaField';
 import { useIsMobile } from '@/spa/hooks/useIsMobile';
 import { blogDetailContent } from '@/spa/blogDetailContent';
 import Image from '@/spa/components/ui/UnoptimizedImage'
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ const FF   = '"IBM Plex Sans", sans-serif';
 const FB   = '"Inter", sans-serif';
 
 type BlogDetailCms = Omit<Partial<typeof blogDetailContent>, 'categoryColors'> & {
+  fallbackImage?: unknown
   categoryColors?: unknown
   metaCopy?: Partial<typeof blogDetailContent.meta>
 }
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@ export default function BlogDetail() {
   const { slug } = useParams<{ slug: string }>();
   const route = useCmsRoute();
   const cmsArticle = route?.collection === 'posts' ? route.doc : undefined;
+  const cmsDetail = getDetailPage(cmsArticle?.detailPage);
+  const articleFallbackImage = mediaUrl(cmsDetail.fallbackImage, `/images/${blogDetailContent.fallbackImageFilename}`);
   const article  = (slug ? getArticleBySlug(slug) : undefined) || (cmsArticle ? {
     slug: String(cmsArticle.slug || slug),
     title: String(cmsArticle.title || 'Presse'),
@@ -54,7 +57,7 @@ export default function BlogDetail() {
     author: String(cmsArticle.authorName || 'BMP Redaktion'),
     authorRole: String(cmsArticle.authorRole || 'Presse'),
     readTime: String(cmsArticle.readTime || '1 min'),
-    img: docImageUrl(cmsArticle, '/images/gala-saal-overview.jpg', 'heroImage'),
+    img: docImageUrl(cmsArticle, articleFallbackImage, 'heroImage'),
     excerpt: String(cmsArticle.excerpt || cmsArticle.meta?.description || 'Dieser Pressebeitrag wird aus Payload CMS geladen.'),
     sections: Array.isArray(cmsArticle.sections) && cmsArticle.sections.length > 0 ? cmsArticle.sections as BlogSection[] : [{ body: String(cmsArticle.excerpt || cmsArticle.meta?.description || 'Dieser Pressebeitrag wird aus Payload CMS geladen.') }],
     tags: Array.isArray(cmsArticle.tags)
@@ -69,7 +72,7 @@ export default function BlogDetail() {
       : [],
     detailPage: cmsArticle.detailPage,
   } as BlogArticle : undefined);
-  const detail = getDetailPage(article && 'detailPage' in article ? article.detailPage : undefined);
+  const detail = getDetailPage(article && 'detailPage' in article ? article.detailPage : cmsDetail);
   const notFound = detail.notFound || blogDetailContent.notFound;
   const heroBackLink = detail.heroBackLink || blogDetailContent.heroBackLink;
   const categoryColors = colorMap(detail.categoryColors);