Abstract: A central lock for safety belts. With such a lock, especially in aircraft and sports cars, where the lock has an external bead behind which the connection members can catch, which in the process can freely align themselves in the respective belt-pulling direction, and where the lock also has control elements for fastening the connection members, for holding them securely in place, and for releasing them, with these control elements being operatively coupled with a manually operable rotary member which is disposed over a stud in conjunction with which the various movements in the lock occur, there exists the problem of an expedient arrangement of the many necessary components while at the same time avoiding two great a structural height. To reduce the overall structural size, and to provide as few components as possible, a retention and release element is disposed around the stud, with this element having a part which extends parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the lock.