Abstract: A surge voltage arrester having a gas-tight housing includes a pair of electrodes arranged at a distance opposite one another and with their active surfaces facing one another. The electrodes are inserted into respective ends of a tubular insulating body which carries at least one coating of electrically conductive material on the inner surface thereof extending over a portion of the tube length, the coating of electrically conductive material defines at least the envelope of a surface whose normal is approximately at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the surface voltage arrester. The coating of electrically conductive material may be punctiform circular, oval, triangular or polygonal. The coating may also be a semiconducting material, rather than a conductive material.