Disclosed is an x-ray apparatus for generating short x-ray pulses, comprising an x-ray tube (10) that is provided with a hot cathode (12) and a anode (16), and an x-ray generator which is provided with a first circuit (22, 20, 18) generating a high voltage pulse that is applied to the anode (16) in order to generate the x-ray pulse. The x-ray generator is provided with a second circuit (26) via which a low voltage that is not sufficient to generate x-rays (30) but preheats the x-ray tube (10) is permanently fed to the anode (16). The first circuit can comprise a high voltage power pack (22) that charges a high voltage capacitor (20) which can be applied to the anode (16) via a high voltage switch (18). The second circuit can be embodied as a Marx generator. It is possible to use a single power pack for generating the permanent low voltage and driving the Marx generator generating the high voltage. The inventive x-ray apparatus can be part of a device for inspecting objects, which comprises an imaging unit (44, 46) for creating a representation of the object by means of the x-ray (30).