SURGE ARRESTER

The invention relates to a surge arrester (1) which is mounted between a phase conductor (L) and an N conductor (N) or a PE conductor (PE) and comprises at least one spark gap and at least one further electrical component which is serially connected thereto. In the event of a short circuit of the spark gap the short circuit is interrupted without using the elevated temperature of the surge arrester. According to the invention one of the connection components for the phase conductor or the N conductor or the PE conductor consists of two mutually electrically insulated spaced apart parts (3 4) which are electrically connected to each other by means of a contact part (5) such that mechanical adjusting means (6) which are associated with the contact part (5) are designed to displace the contact part (5) from the first position connecting the two parts (3 4) into a second position interrupting the connection and such that the adjusting means (6) can be displaced by means of an actuator (7) which can be triggered such that a short circuit current flows through the surge arrester (1).