Abstract: In a heating device for atomic absorption spectrometers with electrothermal excitation of a sample, a tubular body for receiving the sample comprises a radial aperture (15) for introducing the sample at the central part of the tubular body. A pair of contacts (1, 2) can be cooled comprise current supplies (3), each consisting of a detachable upper part (5) and a fixed lower part (6) with the upper part and the lower part being connected together so as to be detachable. Each contact comprises an aperture (9) which is coaxial with the tubular body with the apertures extending partly in the upper part and partly in the lower part of the contacts and holding the ends of the tubular body. Damage and deformations of the contacts are avoided in that the diameters of the apertures (9), with the upper parts (5) laid flush on the lower parts (6), are shorter in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction.