A latching mechanism is for locking a spring energy store of an electric switching device. The store is tensioned by a rotary drive and an extensible lever system. In the latching mechanism, the extensible lever system is locked with the spring energy store under tension by way of a support element, an auxiliary lock and a primary lock, in addition to a stop that is allocated to the primary lock. The auxiliary lock can be pivoted by the extension of the lever system and the position of the primary lock during the pivoting of the auxiliary lock can be influenced by working surfaces that are allocated to one another. To configure the locking mechanism for pivoting the primary lock in a manner which obviates the use of a return spring that acts on said primary lock, the auxiliary lock and the primary lock respectively have at least two working surfaces. In a first pivoting phase of the auxiliary lock, the respective first surfaces of the two sets of working surfaces lie adjacent to one another and in a second pivoting phase of the auxiliary lock, the second working surfaces lie adjacent to one another, intermeshing in the manner of a toothed gear.