Abstract: An overvoltage arrester includes a column extending between first and second electrical terminals and having resistance elements being stacked on one another and having first and second opposite contact faces. The first and second contact faces of adjacent resistance elements adjoin one another. The column has a first group of resistance elements being directly connected by their first contact faces to the first electrical terminal and by their second contact faces to the second electrical terminal, and a second group of resistance elements being directly connected by their first contact faces to the second electrical terminal and by the second contact faces to the first electrical terminal. The result is a compact overvoltage arrester in which all of the resistance elements are connected electrically parallel with one another and which has a particularly high energy absorption capacity.