An acceleration switch has a housing having a housing recess, an elongated tilting body located in the housing recess and operating as a seismic mass, a magnetic system, and a reed switch. The tilting body is arranged so that upon exceeding of a predetermined threshold value a control signal is released by interaction of the magnetic system and the reed switch. The magnetic system includes at least two permanent magnets having opposite polarization directions and connected with a magnetic flux conducting body at an end side facing away from the reed switch. The reed switch has contacts located in a magnetic field between the permanent magnets. The polarization directions of the permanent magnets extend perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the tilting body. The contacts of the reed switch are arranged in a tilting direction of the tilting body.