diff --git a/src/lib/__tests__/geo.test.ts b/src/lib/__tests__/geo.test.ts
index 89035595c..8eda58777 100644
--- a/src/lib/__tests__/geo.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/__tests__/geo.test.ts
@@ -41,11 +41,26 @@ describe("lookupIpLocation IP-geolocation HTTPS guard", () => {
     expect(fetchSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  // v1.4.16 A8a: helper turns a JS object into a real `Response` whose
+  // body is the UTF-8 byte stream of `JSON.stringify(value)`. The geo
+  // helper now reads via `arrayBuffer() + TextDecoder('utf-8')` so the
+  // test fakes have to expose those, not just `json()`.
+  function jsonOk(value: unknown): Response {
+    return new Response(
+      new TextEncoder().encode(JSON.stringify(value)).buffer as ArrayBuffer,
+      {
+        status: 200,
+        headers: { "content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8" },
+      },
+    );
+  }
+
   it("uses HTTPS by default (ipwho.is)", async () => {
-    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
-      ok: true,
-      json: async () => ({ success: true, city: "Berlin", country_code: "DE" }),
-    });
+    const fetchSpy = vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValue(
+        jsonOk({ success: true, city: "Berlin", country_code: "DE" }),
+      );
     vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchSpy);
     const { lookupIpLocation } = await import("../geo");
 
@@ -56,10 +71,12 @@ describe("lookupIpLocation IP-geolocation HTTPS guard", () => {
 
   it("refuses to call non-HTTPS configured providers", async () => {
     process.env.IP_GEO_LOOKUP_URL = "http://ip-api.com/json";
-    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
-      ok: false,
-      json: async () => ({}),
-    });
+    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(
+      new Response("", {
+        status: 503,
+        headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+      }),
+    );
     vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchSpy);
     const { lookupIpLocation } = await import("../geo");
 
@@ -73,17 +90,117 @@ describe("lookupIpLocation IP-geolocation HTTPS guard", () => {
 
   it("accepts the ip-api pro response shape (status:'success', countryCode)", async () => {
     process.env.IP_GEO_LOOKUP_URL = "https://pro.ip-api.com/json";
-    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
-      ok: true,
-      json: async () => ({
+    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(
+      jsonOk({
         status: "success",
         city: "Hamburg",
         countryCode: "DE",
       }),
-    });
+    );
     vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchSpy);
     const { lookupIpLocation } = await import("../geo");
 
     expect(await lookupIpLocation("8.8.8.8")).toBe("Hamburg, DE");
   });
 });
+
+// v1.4.16 A8a: Marc spotted "Nrnberg" rendered in /admin/login-overview
+// for an audit row that should have read "Nürnberg, DE". The geo source
+// (ipwho.is) returns valid UTF-8, but `Response.json()` defers its
+// charset decoding to whatever the server's `Content-Type` header
+// claims, so an upstream proxy that strips the charset parameter (or
+// re-serves the body as latin-1) can poison the umlaut path. The fix
+// reads the body as a UTF-8 ArrayBuffer first, then JSON.parses.
+// The umlaut-roundtrip test is the regression guard.
+describe("lookupIpLocation umlaut roundtrip (v1.4.16 A8a)", () => {
+  // Build a Response-like that serves a UTF-8 byte stream — what ipwho.is
+  // actually puts on the wire — instead of letting the Vitest test runner
+  // hand the parser a pre-decoded JS object, which masks any
+  // `Content-Type`-charset-driven decoding bug.
+  function utf8JsonResponse(body: object): Response {
+    return new Response(
+      new TextEncoder().encode(JSON.stringify(body)).buffer as ArrayBuffer,
+      {
+        status: 200,
+        headers: { "content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8" },
+      },
+    );
+  }
+
+  for (const city of [
+    "Nürnberg",
+    "München",
+    "Düsseldorf",
+    "Köln",
+    "Würzburg",
+    "Bückeburg",
+  ]) {
+    it(`preserves "${city}" through fetch → DB-ready string`, async () => {
+      const fetchSpy = vi
+        .fn()
+        .mockResolvedValue(
+          utf8JsonResponse({ success: true, city, country_code: "DE" }),
+        );
+      vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchSpy);
+      const { lookupIpLocation } = await import("../geo");
+
+      expect(await lookupIpLocation("8.8.8.8")).toBe(`${city}, DE`);
+    });
+  }
+
+  it('preserves the eszett ("ß") in country/region names', async () => {
+    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(
+      utf8JsonResponse({
+        success: true,
+        city: "Weißenfels",
+        country_code: "DE",
+      }),
+    );
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchSpy);
+    const { lookupIpLocation } = await import("../geo");
+
+    expect(await lookupIpLocation("8.8.8.8")).toBe("Weißenfels, DE");
+  });
+
+  it("survives a Content-Type header that omits the charset", async () => {
+    // Defensive: some upstream proxies strip `; charset=utf-8`. The body
+    // stays UTF-8 bytes; the helper must not let Response.json()'s
+    // charset-defaulting behaviour hide an umlaut.
+    const headers = new Headers({ "content-type": "application/json" });
+    const body = new TextEncoder().encode(
+      JSON.stringify({ success: true, city: "Nürnberg", country_code: "DE" }),
+    );
+    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(
+      new Response(body.buffer as ArrayBuffer, {
+        status: 200,
+        headers,
+      }),
+    );
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchSpy);
+    const { lookupIpLocation } = await import("../geo");
+
+    expect(await lookupIpLocation("8.8.8.8")).toBe("Nürnberg, DE");
+  });
+
+  it("hints providers it wants localized names via Accept-Language", async () => {
+    // ipwho.is and ip-api both honour Accept-Language for the city
+    // field; without the hint, ip-api falls back to English ASCII fold
+    // ("Nuremberg"). Setting de;q=1, en;q=0.5 keeps the user-facing
+    // text close to the locale the audit-log overview renders in.
+    const fetchSpy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(
+      utf8JsonResponse({
+        success: true,
+        city: "Nürnberg",
+        country_code: "DE",
+      }),
+    );
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchSpy);
+    const { lookupIpLocation } = await import("../geo");
+
+    await lookupIpLocation("8.8.8.8");
+    const init = fetchSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[1] as RequestInit | undefined;
+    const headers = new Headers(init?.headers ?? {});
+    const al = headers.get("accept-language") ?? "";
+    expect(al.toLowerCase()).toMatch(/de/);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/geo.ts b/src/lib/geo.ts
index ebbea3194..b986c6d92 100644
--- a/src/lib/geo.ts
+++ b/src/lib/geo.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,14 @@
  * Setting IP_GEO_LOOKUP_DISABLED=1 disables lookup entirely — used by
  * deployments that do not want any IP egress to a third-party service
  * (V3 audit: GDPR Art. 32 + Art. 44, plaintext HTTP IP egress).
+ *
+ * v1.4.16 A8a: the body is decoded as UTF-8 explicitly via
+ * `TextDecoder('utf-8')` instead of `Response.json()`, and an
+ * `Accept-Language: de, en;q=0.5` hint is sent so providers return
+ * native city names ("Nürnberg") rather than ASCII folds
+ * ("Nuremberg"). The previous path lost umlauts in production for at
+ * least one Marc-Brief login row that rendered as "Nrnberg" in
+ * /admin/login-overview — see `docs/audit/v1416-summary.md` once cut.
  */
 
 interface IpwhoIsResponse {
@@ -45,6 +53,23 @@ function buildLookupUrl(ip: string): string {
   return `${base}/${encodeURIComponent(ip)}`;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Decode the raw response bytes as UTF-8, then JSON-parse. Bypasses
+ * `Response.json()` so the result is independent of the upstream
+ * `Content-Type: application/json; charset=…` value — relevant in
+ * production where ipwho.is sits behind Cloudflare and an intermediate
+ * proxy can re-serve the body without preserving the charset hint.
+ * Falls back to whatever decoding errors `TextDecoder` produces (which
+ * substitute U+FFFD rather than dropping bytes), so a malformed
+ * response surfaces as a parse failure instead of silent character
+ * loss.
+ */
+async function readUtf8Json(res: Response): Promise<unknown> {
+  const buf = await res.arrayBuffer();
+  const text = new TextDecoder("utf-8").decode(buf);
+  return JSON.parse(text);
+}
+
 export async function lookupIpLocation(
   ip: string | null,
 ): Promise<string | null> {
@@ -54,10 +79,21 @@ export async function lookupIpLocation(
   try {
     const res = await fetch(buildLookupUrl(ip), {
       signal: AbortSignal.timeout(3000),
+      headers: {
+        // ipwho.is and ip-api both honour Accept-Language for the
+        // city field. Without the hint, ip-api falls back to the
+        // English ASCII fold ("Nuremberg" instead of "Nürnberg").
+        // German first because the user-base is DACH-skewed; English
+        // as a graceful fallback for cities that don't have a German
+        // name. Quality 0.5 on the en fallback keeps providers from
+        // tie-breaking the wrong way.
+        "Accept-Language": "de, en;q=0.5",
+        Accept: "application/json",
+      },
     });
     if (!res.ok) return null;
 
-    const data = (await res.json()) as GeoResponse;
+    const data = (await readUtf8Json(res)) as GeoResponse;
     const ok =
       data.success === true ||
       data.status === "success" ||