A voltage surge or overvoltage arrester comprising at least one response element which becomes conductive upon the occurrence of a voltage surge which exceeds a certain boundary or limit and appears at the connection terminals of the overvoltage arrester, at least one extinguishing element for interrupting the arc supplied by the follower current and at least one arrester resistor connected in series with the extinguishing element and parallel impedances for controlling the voltage distribution. The extinguishing element comprises a switch which can be actuated by an electro-dynamic drive.