The invention relates to a measuring probe for measuring the thickness of thin films, comprising a housing (12) and at least one sensor element (14, 15), which is supported resiliently with respect to the housing (12) by means of at least one spring element (33, 37) and has a contacting spherical cap (31) pointing opposite the contacting direction and along the longitudinal axis (38) of the sensor element toward the measurement surface (25) of a measurement object (26), wherein a damping device (17) is provided on the housing (12), which damping device acts in the contacting direction (28) of the at least one sensor element (14, 15) before the sensor element (14, 15) contacts the measurement surface (25) of the measurement object (26) and damps the contacting motion of the at least one sensor element (14, 15) in the direction toward the measurement surface (25) of the measurement object (26).