Abstract: To improve the operation of high-pressure discharge lamps by preventing pature deformation of the end face of an anode due to extremely high temperature, with subsequent vaporization of tungsten material from the electrode and deposition on the bulb or vessel of the high-pressure discharge lamp, the electrode is axially forged, for example by hammering, to compact and change the grain structure of the electrode towards a finer grain than elsewhere in the electrode and increase the hardness of the electrode across the end face surface. Both--higher density and finer grain structure--increase the parameters which characterize the lifetime of electrodes, and hence of the lamp, namely heat conductivity and resistance against deformation under heat stress.