SWITCHING DEVICE

The invention relates to a switching device (1000) having an ON state, an OFF state for opening, closing or commutating a circuit between a first contact (110) and a second contact (120), and further intermediate states between the ON state and OFF state, as well as having a controllable resistor element (200) which is electrically arranged between the first contact (110) and the second contact (120), the switching device (1000) being closed in the ON state and open in the OFF state, the state of the switching device (1000) being changed by means of a mechanical transit movement (T), wherein the transit movement (T) is performed in such a way that the current voltage drop at any point in time is smaller than the ignition voltage of an arc, and the switching energy in the controllable resistor element (200) is thereby dissipated in the form of electrical power loss, and wherein, in the event of overcurrents below an overcurrent threshold value, the controllable resistor element (200) is transferred to an intermediate state by the transit movement (T), such that electrical attenuation is introduced into the circuit without interrupting the latter.