diff --git a/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/classic-ats.tsx b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/classic-ats.tsx
index 7c60cd04..7b346aad 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/classic-ats.tsx
+++ b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/classic-ats.tsx
@@ -370,7 +370,9 @@ export const ClassicAtsFactory: ReactPdfTemplateFactory = {
     return function ClassicAtsResume({ data, meta }: ReactPdfResumeProps): ReactElement {
       const accent = meta.accentColor || ACCENT_FALLBACK;
       const styles = buildStyles(rp, accent);
-      const lang = meta.language || data.language || 'en';
+      // Prefer the explicit export-request language (data.language) over the
+      // DB template row's language (meta.language). See issue #536.
+      const lang = data.language || meta.language || 'en';
       const contactParts = buildResumeContactParts(data);
 
       return createElement(
diff --git a/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/elegant-sidebar.tsx b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/elegant-sidebar.tsx
index 1ab0b945..9225f5a9 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/elegant-sidebar.tsx
+++ b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/elegant-sidebar.tsx
@@ -433,7 +433,9 @@ export const ElegantSidebarFactory: ReactPdfTemplateFactory = {
     return function ElegantSidebarResume({ data, meta }: ReactPdfResumeProps): ReactElement {
       const palette = deriveElegantSidebarPalette(meta.accentColor);
       const styles = buildResumeStyles(rp, palette);
-      const lang = meta.language || data.language || 'en';
+      // Prefer the explicit export-request language (data.language) over the
+      // DB template row's language (meta.language). See issue #536.
+      const lang = data.language || meta.language || 'en';
       const contactParts = buildResumeContactParts(data);
 
       // Render contact items with optional Links
diff --git a/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/harvard-classic.tsx b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/harvard-classic.tsx
index 27a17054..9909eab3 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/harvard-classic.tsx
+++ b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/harvard-classic.tsx
@@ -299,7 +299,13 @@ export const HarvardClassicFactory: ReactPdfTemplateFactory = {
 
     return function HarvardClassicResume({ data, meta }: ReactPdfResumeProps): ReactElement {
       const styles = buildStyles(rp);
-      const lang = meta.language || data.language || 'en';
+      // Prefer the explicit export-request language (data.language) over the
+      // DB template row's language (meta.language). The DB row may be the
+      // English fallback when no DE/FR/ES/IT variant has been seeded for
+      // this design, in which case meta.language is 'en' but the user has
+      // explicitly asked to export in another language — and the LLM body
+      // is already in that language. See issue #536.
+      const lang = data.language || meta.language || 'en';
       const contactParts = buildResumeContactParts(data);
 
       return createElement(
diff --git a/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/language-precedence.unit.spec.ts b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/language-precedence.unit.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d08de780
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/pdf-v2/templates/language-precedence.unit.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import * as ReactPdf from '@react-pdf/renderer';
+import { PDFParse } from 'pdf-parse';
+import { HarvardClassicFactory } from './harvard-classic';
+import { ClassicAtsFactory } from './classic-ats';
+import { ElegantSidebarFactory } from './elegant-sidebar';
+import type { ResumeTemplateData } from '../template-data';
+import type { ReactPdfTemplateMeta } from '../types';
+import { createElement } from 'react';
+
+/**
+ * Regression test for issue #536.
+ *
+ * The DB template row for these designs only ships in English
+ * (`seed-multilingual-templates.ts` seeds one variant per design). When a
+ * user picks "Harvard Classic + German" and exports, the export pipeline
+ * resolves the template id to that English DB row, so `meta.language` is
+ * `'en'`. The user's choice is carried by `data.language` (set by the
+ * application processor from the export request).
+ *
+ * Before the fix, the resume templates picked `meta.language || data.language`,
+ * so DB-meta won and section headings rendered in English even though the
+ * LLM body was German. After the fix, `data.language` wins.
+ *
+ * We assert against the rendered PDF text via `pdf-parse` rather than the
+ * React element tree so a future regression that bypasses `tLabel` (e.g.
+ * hard-coding "Education") still trips the test. We call the factories
+ * directly to bypass the `react-pdf-loader.ts` dynamic-import shim, which
+ * doesn't work under Vitest's module transform.
+ */
+describe('react-pdf templates — language precedence (regression #536)', () => {
+  const FACTORIES = [
+    ['harvard-classic', HarvardClassicFactory],
+    ['classic-ats', ClassicAtsFactory],
+    ['elegant-sidebar', ElegantSidebarFactory],
+  ] as const;
+
+  // German labels from pdf-v2/i18n.ts that prove the German render path won.
+  const GERMAN_HEADINGS = ['Berufserfahrung', 'Ausbildung', 'Fähigkeiten'];
+  // English equivalents that must NOT appear when language='de'.
+  const ENGLISH_HEADINGS = ['Professional Experience', 'Education', 'Skills'];
+
+  const sampleData: ResumeTemplateData = {
+    candidateName: 'Anna Beispiel',
+    email: 'anna@example.com',
+    phone: '+49 30 123456',
+    summary: 'Erfahrene Fachkraft mit nachgewiesenen Erfolgen.',
+    skillCategories: [{ type: 'Core', skills: ['Projektmanagement', 'Kommunikation'] }],
+    experiences: [
+      {
+        title: 'Projektleiterin',
+        company: 'ACME GmbH',
+        location: 'Berlin',
+        dateRange: 'Jan 2022 – Heute',
+        achievements: ['Leitete ein Team von 5 Personen'],
+      },
+    ],
+    education: [{ degree: 'M.Sc. Informatik', institution: 'TU Berlin', year: '2020' }],
+    language: 'de', // ← the user's export-time choice
+  };
+
+  // Simulate the missing-DE-variant fallback: DB-meta says English.
+  const englishMeta: ReactPdfTemplateMeta = {
+    language: 'en',
+    accentColor: undefined,
+    colorVariantName: undefined,
+    atsOptimized: false,
+  };
+
+  for (const [name, factory] of FACTORIES) {
+    it(`${name} renders German headings when data.language='de' overrides meta.language='en'`, async () => {
+      const Resume = factory.resume(ReactPdf);
+      const element = createElement(Resume, { data: sampleData, meta: englishMeta });
+      const buf = await ReactPdf.renderToBuffer(element);
+      const parser = new PDFParse({ data: new Uint8Array(buf) });
+      const parsed = await parser.getText();
+      // Templates apply `text-transform: uppercase` to section headings,
+      // so compare in lower-case.
+      const text = parsed.text.toLowerCase();
+
+      for (const heading of GERMAN_HEADINGS) {
+        expect(
+          text,
+          `${name} should contain German heading "${heading}"`,
+        ).toContain(heading.toLowerCase());
+      }
+      for (const heading of ENGLISH_HEADINGS) {
+        expect(
+          text,
+          `${name} should NOT contain English heading "${heading}"`,
+        ).not.toContain(heading.toLowerCase());
+      }
+    }, 30_000);
+  }
+});