diff --git a/frontend/src/client/events.ts b/frontend/src/client/events.ts
index 1d01f67..a78a7eb 100644
--- a/frontend/src/client/events.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/client/events.ts
@@ -125,8 +125,11 @@ const STATUS_OPTIONS_DEADLINE: StatusOption[] = [
   { value: "completed", key: "deadlines.filter.completed" },
 ];
 
+// Appointment status options — m/paliad#54: the legacy 'upcoming' /
+// "Ab heute" option was a UI lie (backend never narrowed past events for
+// appointments) and is removed. 'today' is the sane default — matches the
+// dashboard tile. 'all' stays as the explicit opt-in for past events.
 const STATUS_OPTIONS_APPOINTMENT: StatusOption[] = [
-  { value: "upcoming", key: "events.filter.status.upcoming" },
   { value: "today", key: "deadlines.filter.today" },
   { value: "this_week", key: "deadlines.filter.thisweek" },
   { value: "next_week", key: "deadlines.filter.nextweek" },
@@ -140,7 +143,7 @@ function statusOptionsFor(type: EventTypeChoice): StatusOption[] {
 }
 
 function defaultStatusFor(type: EventTypeChoice): string {
-  return type === "appointment" ? "upcoming" : "pending";
+  return type === "appointment" ? "today" : "pending";
 }
 
 let currentType: EventTypeChoice = "deadline";
diff --git a/internal/services/event_service.go b/internal/services/event_service.go
index e525da5..4639f7c 100644
--- a/internal/services/event_service.go
+++ b/internal/services/event_service.go
@@ -279,7 +279,12 @@ func shouldExcludeAppointmentsForStatus(status DeadlineStatusFilter) bool {
 // matches a bucket-style deadline status — used to filter the
 // appointment side when the user clicks a card on the unified events
 // page. Returns (nil, nil) for non-bucket statuses (pending / all /
-// upcoming / "" / overdue / completed — those are handled separately).
+// "" / overdue / completed — those are handled separately).
+//
+// DeadlineFilterUpcoming maps to "start_at >= today" so legacy
+// `?status=upcoming` URLs hide past appointments instead of falling
+// through to the unfiltered query (m/paliad#54 — the UI option that
+// surfaced this status has been removed, but bookmarks may persist).
 func bucketAppointmentWindow(status DeadlineStatusFilter, b deadlineBucketBounds) (*time.Time, *time.Time) {
 	switch status {
 	case DeadlineFilterToday:
@@ -293,6 +298,8 @@ func bucketAppointmentWindow(status DeadlineStatusFilter, b deadlineBucketBounds
 		return &b.nextMonday, &t
 	case DeadlineFilterLater:
 		return &b.weekAfter, nil
+	case DeadlineFilterUpcoming:
+		return &b.today, nil
 	}
 	return nil, nil
 }