Unit comprising a high-pressure discharge lamp and an ignition antenna

A short-arc discharge lamp (1) is provided with a light-transmitting, gastight lamp vessel (10), which is provided with an ionizable filling. A first electrode and a second electrode (11a, 11b), respectively, are arranged in the lamp vessel (10) and are each connected to a current conductor of their own (12a, 12b), respectively, which issues from the lamp vessel to the exterior. An ignition antenna (2) is arranged near the lamp vessel, which ignition antenna is connected to a further current conductor (24). The ignition antenna comprises an antenna vessel (20) and a further outer electrode (22), which antenna vessel (20) is closed in a gastight manner and provided with an ionizable filling, the further outer electrode (22) being connected to the further current conductor (24). The antenna encloses an electroconductive element. In this way, very small ignition delays are guaranteed, even if the lamp has been in a dark environment for some time.