diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e907d65..9ff540a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,8 +1,37 @@
+# Secrets
 .env
-*.pyc
-__pycache__/
-media/
-*.db
-app.py.bak*
-*.bak
+*.env
+.env.bak
 .cloudflare_token
+credentials.json
+*.key
+*.pem
+
+# Python
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*.egg-info/
+*.bak
+*.bak2
+*.bak3
+*.bak4
+*.bak5
+venv/
+.venv/
+
+# Database
+*.db
+*.db-journal
+*.db-wal
+
+# Media (too large, stored on disk)
+media/uploads/
+*.log
+
+# IDE
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+
+# OS
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index 5ddcbd7..00ccc17 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -1486,10 +1486,17 @@ def public_frontend():
     query += " ORDER BY published_at DESC LIMIT 50"
     rows = db.execute(query, params).fetchall()
 
-    # Get available filter values
-    hallen = [r[0] for r in db.execute(
+    # Get available filter values — group by hall number (H1-H7)
+    hallen = []
+    hall_rows = db.execute(
         "SELECT DISTINCT halle FROM submissions WHERE halle IS NOT NULL AND status='published' ORDER BY halle"
-    ).fetchall()]
+    ).fetchall()
+    seen = set()
+    for r in hall_rows:
+        hnum = r[0][:2] if r[0] else ""
+        if hnum and hnum[0] == 'H' and hnum[1:].isdigit() and hnum not in seen:
+            seen.add(hnum)
+            hallen.append(hnum)
     categories = [r[0] for r in db.execute(
         "SELECT DISTINCT category FROM submissions WHERE category IS NOT NULL AND status='published' ORDER BY category"
     ).fetchall()]
@@ -1515,27 +1522,30 @@ def public_frontend():
     if not rows:
         return empty_state
 
-    # Build filter bar HTML
+    # Build filter bar HTML — hallen as dropdown
     filter_html = '<div class="frontend-filter"><span class="filter-label">📍 Halle:</span> '
-    filter_html += f'<a href="/{"?cat="+cat_filter if cat_filter else ""}" class="filter-pill{"" if halle_filter else " active"}">Alle</a> '
-    for h in hallen:
-        active = " active" if halle_filter and h.startswith(halle_filter) else ""
-        url = f"/?halle={h}"
-        if cat_filter:
-            url += f"&cat={cat_filter}"
-        filter_html += f'<a href="{url}" class="filter-pill{active}">{h}</a> '
+    filter_html += '<form method="get" class="filter-form-inline" style="display:inline;">'
+    if cat_filter:
+        filter_html += f'<input type="hidden" name="cat" value="{cat_filter}">'
+    filter_html += '<select name="halle" onchange="this.form.submit()" class="hall-select">'
+    filter_html += f'<option value="" {"selected" if not halle_filter else ""}>Alle Hallen</option>'
+    for hnum in hallen:
+        selected = " selected" if halle_filter == hnum else ""
+        filter_html += f'<option value="{hnum}"{selected}>Halle {hnum[1:]}</option>'
+    filter_html += '</select></form> '
     if categories:
         filter_html += '<span class="filter-label" style="margin-left:0.8rem;">📂 Kategorie:</span> '
-        url = "/"
+        filter_html += '<form method="get" class="filter-form-inline" style="display:inline;">'
         if halle_filter:
-            url += f"?halle={halle_filter}"
-        filter_html += f'<a href="{url}" class="filter-pill{" active" if not cat_filter else ""}">Alle</a> '
+            filter_html += f'<input type="hidden" name="halle" value="{halle_filter}">'
+        filter_html += '<select name="cat" onchange="this.form.submit()" class="hall-select">'
+        filter_html += f'<option value="" {"selected" if not cat_filter else ""}>Alle Kategorien</option>'
         for c in categories:
-            active = " active" if cat_filter == c else ""
-            url = f"/?cat={c}"
-            if halle_filter:
-                url += f"&halle={halle_filter}"
-            filter_html += f'<a href="{url}" class="filter-pill{active}">{c}</a> '
+            selected = " selected" if cat_filter == c else ""
+            filter_html += f'<option value="{c}"{selected}>{c}</option>'
+        filter_html += '</select></form> '
+    if halle_filter or cat_filter:
+        filter_html += '<a href="/" class="filter-reset">✕ Filter zurücksetzen</a>'
     filter_html += "</div>"
 
     cards = ""
@@ -1699,6 +1709,9 @@ def public_frontend():
   .frontend-filter a.filter-pill:hover { border-color:#20228a; color:#20228a; }
   .frontend-filter a.filter-pill.active { background:#20228a; color:#fff; border-color:#20228a; font-weight:700; }
   .frontend-filter a.filter-reset { color:#999; font-size:0.75rem; }
+  .hall-select { appearance:none; -webkit-appearance:none; background:#fff; color:#20228a; border:1.5px solid #ddd; border-radius:999px; padding:0.35rem 2rem 0.35rem 0.9rem; font-size:0.78rem; font-weight:600; font-family:inherit; cursor:pointer; transition:all 0.15s; background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='12' height='12' viewBox='0 0 24 24' fill='none' stroke='%2320228a' stroke-width='2.5'%3E%3Cpath d='M6 9l6 6 6-6'%3E%3C/path%3E%3C/svg%3E"); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:right 0.55rem center; }
+  .hall-select:hover { border-color:#20228a; }
+  .hall-select:focus { outline:none; border-color:#20228a; box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(32,34,138,0.12); }
   .story-card audio { width:100%; margin-top:0.8rem; }
   .story-card img:not(:first-child) { height:auto; max-height:300px; object-fit:contain; margin-top:0.8rem; border-radius:8px; }
   .story-card video:not(:first-child) { height:auto; max-height:300px; margin-top:0.8rem; border-radius:8px; }