A starting apparatus for a high-pressure discharge lamp provided with an auxiliary starting electrode, has a series resonant circuit for the purpose of generating the starting voltage for the high-pressure discharge lamp. The resonant inductance of the series resonant circuit includes the primary winding of a transformer, whose secondary winding is provided for the purpose of applying the starting voltage to the auxiliary starting electrode (Z) of the high-pressure discharge lamp. The invention also relates to a high-pressure discharge lamp, in particular to a vehicle headlight lamp, having such a starting apparatus arranged in the lamp base.