diff --git a/app/ingest/chunker.py b/app/ingest/chunker.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfe6c2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/ingest/chunker.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+
+SENTENCE_END_CHARS = (".", "!", "?")
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class Chunk:
+    text: str
+    page: int
+
+
+def _find_sentence_boundary(words: list[str], window_start: int) -> int | None:
+    """Return index of last word ending with a sentence terminator within
+    [window_start, len(words)), or None if no boundary found.
+
+    The returned index is the inclusive end-index of the sentence: the chunk
+    will include words[: idx + 1].
+    """
+    for i in range(len(words) - 1, window_start - 1, -1):
+        if words[i].endswith(SENTENCE_END_CHARS):
+            return i
+    return None
+
+
+def chunk_text(text: str, size_words: int, overlap_words: int, page: int) -> list[Chunk]:
+    """Split text into ≤size_words chunks with overlap_words overlap.
+
+    Each chunk ends at the last sentence boundary in the final 20% of the
+    `size_words` window when possible; otherwise it ends at exactly `size_words`.
+    """
+    if not text.strip():
+        return []
+
+    words = text.split()
+    if len(words) <= size_words:
+        return [Chunk(text=" ".join(words), page=page)]
+
+    chunks: list[Chunk] = []
+    start = 0
+    lookback_window = max(1, int(size_words * 0.2))
+
+    while start < len(words):
+        hard_end = min(start + size_words, len(words))
+        # Search for sentence boundary in last 20% of the window
+        if hard_end - start == size_words:
+            boundary_search_start = hard_end - lookback_window
+            boundary = _find_sentence_boundary(words[: hard_end], boundary_search_start)
+            end = boundary + 1 if boundary is not None else hard_end
+        else:
+            end = hard_end
+
+        chunks.append(Chunk(text=" ".join(words[start:end]), page=page))
+
+        if end >= len(words):
+            break
+
+        # Step forward: end - overlap, but never less than start + 1
+        next_start = max(end - overlap_words, start + 1)
+        start = next_start
+
+    return chunks
diff --git a/tests/test_chunker.py b/tests/test_chunker.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a3b248
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_chunker.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+from app.ingest.chunker import chunk_text, Chunk
+
+
+def test_chunk_short_text_single_chunk():
+    text = "Das ist ein kurzer Text mit wenigen Worten."
+    chunks = chunk_text(text, size_words=500, overlap_words=50, page=1)
+    assert len(chunks) == 1
+    assert chunks[0].text == text
+    assert chunks[0].page == 1
+
+
+def test_chunk_size_and_overlap():
+    words = [f"w{i}" for i in range(1200)]
+    text = " ".join(words)
+    chunks = chunk_text(text, size_words=500, overlap_words=50, page=1)
+
+    # 1200 words, size 500, overlap 50 → step 450 → starts at 0, 450, 900 → 3 chunks
+    assert len(chunks) == 3
+    # First chunk has up to 500 words
+    assert len(chunks[0].text.split()) <= 500
+    # Overlap: last 50 words of chunk 0 are first 50 words of chunk 1
+    last_50_of_first = chunks[0].text.split()[-50:]
+    first_50_of_second = chunks[1].text.split()[:50]
+    assert last_50_of_first == first_50_of_second
+
+
+def test_chunk_respects_sentence_boundary_in_lookback_window():
+    # 600 words, with a sentence ending around word 480 (within last 20% = words 400-500)
+    words = [f"w{i}" for i in range(600)]
+    words[479] = "ende."
+    text = " ".join(words)
+    chunks = chunk_text(text, size_words=500, overlap_words=50, page=1)
+
+    # First chunk should end at the sentence boundary, not at word 500
+    first_chunk_words = chunks[0].text.split()
+    assert first_chunk_words[-1] == "ende."
+    assert len(first_chunk_words) == 480
+
+
+def test_chunk_no_sentence_boundary_in_window_falls_back_to_word_count():
+    words = [f"w{i}" for i in range(600)]
+    text = " ".join(words)
+    chunks = chunk_text(text, size_words=500, overlap_words=50, page=1)
+    # No sentence-end → exactly 500 words in first chunk
+    assert len(chunks[0].text.split()) == 500
+
+
+def test_chunk_empty_text_returns_empty_list():
+    assert chunk_text("", size_words=500, overlap_words=50, page=1) == []
+
+
+def test_chunk_carries_page_number():
+    chunks = chunk_text("hallo welt", size_words=500, overlap_words=50, page=7)
+    assert chunks[0].page == 7