diff --git a/mpicms/personal/migrations/0030_auto_20250209_1143.py b/mpicms/personal/migrations/0030_auto_20250209_1143.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85f6c1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mpicms/personal/migrations/0030_auto_20250209_1143.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.1.7 on 2025-02-09 10:43
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('personal', '0029_auto_20250209_1010'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='contact',
+            name='groups',
+            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, related_name='contacts', to='personal.Group', verbose_name='groups'),
+        ),
+        migrations.RunSQL("INSERT INTO personal_contact_groups(id, contact_id, group_id) SELECT id, contact_id, group_id FROM personal_contactgroups"),
+        migrations.DeleteModel(
+            name='ContactGroups',
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/mpicms/personal/models.py b/mpicms/personal/models.py
index d43cab3..1875852 100644
--- a/mpicms/personal/models.py
+++ b/mpicms/personal/models.py
@@ -12,30 +12,12 @@
 from modelcluster.fields import ParentalKey
 
 
+# still used in migrations
 class FilterableParentalKey(ParentalKey):
     def get_related_field(self):
         return self.remote_field
 
 
-class ContactGroups(Orderable, models.Model):
-    """
-    This defines the relationship between the `Group` within the `Contact` model below.
-    """
-    contact = FilterableParentalKey(
-        'Contact', related_name=_('groups'), on_delete=models.CASCADE
-    )
-    group = models.ForeignKey(
-        'personal.Group',
-        related_name='contacts',
-        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
-        verbose_name=_('group')
-    )
-
-    panels = [
-        SnippetChooserPanel('group'),
-    ]
-
-
 class ContactManager(models.Manager):
     def get_queryset(self):
         return super().get_queryset().filter(is_active=True)
@@ -146,6 +128,7 @@ class Contact(index.Indexed, ClusterableModel):
     status = models.ForeignKey(Status, on_delete=models.SET_NULL, blank=True, null=True)
     special_functions = models.ManyToManyField(SpecialFunction, verbose_name=_('special functions'), blank=True)
     positions = models.ManyToManyField(Position, related_name="contacts", blank=True, verbose_name=_('positions'))
+    groups = models.ManyToManyField(Group, related_name="contacts", blank=True, verbose_name=_('groups'))
 
     objects = ContactManager()
 
@@ -157,14 +140,12 @@ class Contact(index.Indexed, ClusterableModel):
             FieldPanel('academic_suffix'),
         ], heading='Name'),
         FieldPanel('status'),
+        FieldPanel('groups'),
         FieldPanel('positions'),
         FieldPanel('special_functions'),
         FieldPanel('email'),
         FieldPanel('phone'),
         FieldPanel('room'),
-        InlinePanel(
-            'groups', label="Groups",
-            panels=None),
         FieldPanel('is_active'),
         FieldPanel('priority'),
     ]
diff --git a/mpicms/personal/views.py b/mpicms/personal/views.py
index 7306283..7f198da 100644
--- a/mpicms/personal/views.py
+++ b/mpicms/personal/views.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ def get_queryset(self):
         special_function_pk = self.request.GET.get('special_function')
         qs = super().get_queryset();
         if group_pk is not None and group_pk != "":
-            qs = qs.filter(groups__group_id=group_pk)
+            qs = qs.filter(groups=group_pk)
 
         if position_pk is not None and position_pk != "":
             qs = qs.filter(positions=position_pk)
diff --git a/mpicms/personal/wagtail_hooks.py b/mpicms/personal/wagtail_hooks.py
index 5be9f1a..59df651 100644
--- a/mpicms/personal/wagtail_hooks.py
+++ b/mpicms/personal/wagtail_hooks.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class ContactAdmin(ModelAdmin):
     menu_label = _('Persons')
     menu_icon = 'user'
     list_display = ['title', 'first_name', 'last_name', 'get_positions', 'email', 'phone', 'room', 'get_groups']
-    list_filter = ['groups__group', 'is_active', 'positions']
+    list_filter = ['groups', 'is_active', 'positions']
     search_fields = ['title', 'first_name', 'last_name', 'email', 'phone', 'room']
 
     edit_view_class = ContactEditView
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class ContactAdmin(ModelAdmin):
     delete_view_class = ContactDeleteView
 
     def get_groups(self, obj):
-        return ", ".join([group.__str__() for group in Group.objects.filter(contacts__in=obj.groups.all()).distinct()])
+        return ", ".join([group.__str__() for group in obj.groups.all()])
     get_groups.short_description = _('Groups')
 
     def get_positions(self, obj):
diff --git a/mpicms/templates/personal/list.html b/mpicms/templates/personal/list.html
index 5b691db..9df0ad9 100644
--- a/mpicms/templates/personal/list.html
+++ b/mpicms/templates/personal/list.html
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ <h1 class="title has-text-centered">{% trans 'Contact List' %}</h1>
                 <td class="email"><a href="mailto:{{ contact.email }}">{{ contact.email }}</a></td>
                 <td class="phone">{{ contact.phone }}</td>
                 <td class="room">{{ contact.room | add_room_links }}</td>
-                <td class="groups">{% for contactgroup in contact.groups.all %}{{ contactgroup.group }}<br>{% endfor %}</td>
+                <td class="groups">{% for group in contact.groups.all %}{{ group }}<br>{% endfor %}</td>
                 <td class="positions">{% for position in contact.positions.all %}{{ position }}<br>{% endfor %}</td>
                 <td class="special_functions">{% for specialfunction in contact.special_functions.all %}{{ specialfunction.title }}<br>{% endfor %}</td>
             </tr>