diff --git a/BACKLOG.md b/BACKLOG.md
index 5857963..b87a48b 100644
--- a/BACKLOG.md
+++ b/BACKLOG.md
@@ -253,10 +253,16 @@ Split (issue #11 closed) into two independently-demoable slices per §13 — the
 
 **Outcome:** Beheer portal lets an admin view ZTC catalogi (read-only first), and manage the ACL's default-fill configuration via a CRUD UI. MFA on the medewerker realm enforced.
 
-### S-16 · OpenTelemetry traces + Grafana dashboard
+### S-16 · OpenTelemetry traces + Grafana dashboard *(split — #17 closed)*
 
 **Outcome:** Traces span portal → BFF → Domain → ACL → OpenZaak and portal → BFF → Domain → Flowable. Grafana dashboards pre-built for golden signals.
 
+Split into independently deployable sub-slices (CLAUDE.md §13):
+
+- **S-16a** (#122) · Observability backplane — Grafana Tempo + Prometheus + Grafana in compose, datasources auto-provisioned (ADR-0023). No collector; config baked into built images.
+- **S-16b** (#123) · Distributed traces across the five .NET services (OTLP → Tempo; nginx `traceparent` passthrough). Depends on S-16a.
+- **S-16c** (#124) · Prometheus metrics + golden-signal Grafana dashboards. Depends on S-16a.
+
 ### S-17 · Quartz.NET scheduler — herregistratie reminder sweep ✅
 
 **Outcome:** Daily Quartz.NET cron job finds inscriptions within 90 days of their herregistratie deadline and reminds each (flag on the aggregate + log). No outbound notification and no domain event in v1 — the reminder is the persisted flag, surfaced on the read model (ADR-0022, #120). Quartz fires time-triggered sweeps; the existing pumps stay as queue-drainers.
diff --git a/docs/architecture/adr-0023-observability-stack.md b/docs/architecture/adr-0023-observability-stack.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7adb034
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/architecture/adr-0023-observability-stack.md
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+# ADR-0023: Grafana-native observability stack (Tempo + Prometheus + Grafana)
+
+- **Status:** Accepted
+- **Date:** 2026-07-23
+- **Deciders:** Respellion engineering
+- **Slice:** S-16a (#122), first of the S-16 (#17) split
+
+## Context
+
+The PRD calls for "OpenTelemetry traces, Prometheus metrics; a local Grafana with
+pre-built dashboards" (§80). S-16 was split (CLAUDE.md §13) into a backplane slice
+(this one), distributed tracing (#123), and metrics + dashboards (#124). The
+backplane must stand up first: a local, CI-friendly place for traces and metrics to
+land, viewable in one UI, reaching green health within the 3-minute compose budget.
+
+Two shape decisions are non-obvious enough to record.
+
+## Decision
+
+**Run a Grafana-native stack — Grafana Tempo (traces) + Prometheus (metrics) +
+Grafana (UI) — with the services exporting OTLP straight to Tempo (no collector),
+and ship the config baked into small built images.**
+
+### Trace backend: Tempo (not Jaeger)
+
+Tempo keeps everything under one Grafana pane alongside metrics (and later logs),
+which is exactly the "local Grafana with dashboards" the PRD asks for. Jaeger would
+add a second UI and a second mental model for no benefit at this scale.
+
+### No OTLP collector
+
+Tempo ingests OTLP directly (gRPC 4317 / HTTP 4318) and Prometheus scrapes each
+service's `/metrics`, so a collector would be a hop that processes nothing. Skipped.
+If we later need fan-out, tail sampling, or log processing, a collector is an
+additive change — the services already speak OTLP.
+
+### Config baked into built images, not config volumes
+
+The upstream Common Ground modules (OpenZaak, NRC, Keycloak, Flowable) run as
+**verbatim** images and get their config streamed into external named volumes by
+`infra/seed-config.sh`, because bind mounts don't reach sibling containers on the
+CI runner (see `docs/runbooks/gitea-actions-gotchas.md`). The observability tools
+are **not** peer modules we must run verbatim, so we take the simpler path: a
+three-line `Dockerfile` per tool that `COPY`s its config in. This reaches sibling
+containers everywhere (docker, podman, CI) with no seed step, no `CFG_VOLS` entry,
+and no Makefile sprawl.
+
+### Verified, not assumed
+
+`infra/run-observability-check.sh` (the `verify-observability` step, run early in CI
+`verify-stack`) asks Grafana to reach both datasources — Prometheus via its health
+method, Tempo via the datasource proxy (Tempo's Grafana plugin implements no health
+method) — so the check proves the datasources are actually wired, not merely that
+containers started. The containers are not in `WAIT_SVCS`; the check polls Grafana
+itself, so no in-image healthcheck tool is required.
+
+## Consequences
+
+**Positive**
+
+- One UI for traces + metrics + (future) logs. Config is versioned in
+  `infra/observability/` and self-contained in the images.
+- Backplane is independent of app instrumentation — #123 and #124 build on it.
+
+**Negative / costs**
+
+- Three more images built each CI run (kept small; not on the health-gate list).
+- Storage is ephemeral container fs — a demo backplane, not a retention target.
+  Object storage for Tempo / remote-write for Prometheus is a later concern.
+
+## Coupling rules touched (CLAUDE.md §8)
+
+None. The stack is passive infrastructure: services *push* OTLP and *expose*
+`/metrics`; nothing in the stack calls into a service or a peer module.
diff --git a/docs/demo-script.md b/docs/demo-script.md
index eeebfbb..c4b7492 100644
--- a/docs/demo-script.md
+++ b/docs/demo-script.md
@@ -5,6 +5,31 @@ copy-pasteable walkthrough against a local `make up` stack.
 
 ---
 
+## S-16a — observability backplane: Tempo + Prometheus + Grafana (#122, ADR-0023)
+
+**Outcome:** the compose stack now includes a Grafana-native observability backplane — **Tempo** (OTLP
+trace ingest on 4317/4318), **Prometheus**, and **Grafana** with both datasources auto-provisioned.
+Nothing is instrumented yet (traces land in S-16b, metrics + dashboards in S-16c); this slice stands the
+backplane up and proves Grafana can reach both datasources. Config is baked into small built images
+(`infra/observability/`) — no collector, no config-volume seeding.
+
+```bash
+# 1. Bring the stack up, then assert the backplane is live (Grafana healthy + Tempo/Prometheus
+#    datasources reachable through Grafana). This is a CI verify-stack step.
+make up
+make verify-observability        # → ✓ Grafana healthy  ✓ Prometheus reachable  ✓ Tempo reachable
+
+# 2. Or just the backplane, no full stack needed (no external egress):
+docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml up -d --build tempo prometheus grafana
+open http://localhost:3000        # Grafana (admin/admin) → Connections → Data sources: Prometheus + Tempo
+open http://localhost:9090        # Prometheus
+```
+
+**The path:** services will export OTLP → **Tempo:4317** and expose `/metrics` ← **Prometheus** scrapes;
+**Grafana** (:3000) reads both via provisioned datasources with fixed uids `tempo` / `prometheus`.
+
+---
+
 ## S-17 — herregistratie reminder sweep on a Quartz cron (#18, ADR-0022)
 
 **Outcome:** an inscription (INGESCHREVEN) now carries the moment it was entered in the register, from