A short arc lamp with a high lamp sustaining voltage in which there is no crack formation in the corner areas of the faces of shrunken regions of a side tube and of cylindrical retaining bodies for upholding parts of the electrodes, even if the gas pressure is high during operation is obtained, in a short arc lamp in which arc tube has a cathode and an anode disposed opposite one another, and in which the upholding parts of the cathode and anode are inserted and held in cylindrical retaining bodies which are supported in the shrunken regions of side tubes connected to the arc tube, by intermediate layers of metal or ceramic being located between the cylindrical retaining bodies and the shrunken regions, and by the cylindrical retaining bodies and the shrunken regions not being welded to one another into a single part.