Abstract: A circuit arrangement for striking a discharge lamp, comprising: a drive apparatus, having an output adapted to provide a drive signal with a predeterminable frequency; an inverter, which is coupled to the output of the drive apparatus, and having an output adapted to provide a square-wave signal with a predeterminable duty factor; a load circuit, which is coupled to the output of the inverter and has at least one terminal for the discharge lamp, the load circuit comprising a lamp inductor, which is coupled in series between the output of the inverter and the at least one terminal for the discharge lamp; a first control loop with a first reference variable, a first manipulated variable and a first controlled variable, the first control loop having a first time constant; a second control loop with a second reference variable, an auxiliary manipulated variable and a second controlled variable, the second control loop having a second time constant; and a strike detection apparatus, which is adapted to detect str