A latching device for a backrest latch of a motor vehicle for the bolting and unbolting of seat backrests includes a locking mechanism having a catch and at least one pawl, and an unbolting element for the locking mechanism which can be acted on manually and/or mechanically, whereby the unbolting element is a component of an exchangeable unbolting module and whereby the unbolting module forms a latch housing together with a basic module accommodating the locking mechanism, whereby the unbolting element is formed as a multifunctional element and whereby at least a switching and/or attenuation function can be executed by the multifunctional element.