The present invention is directed to a spectrometer in which the electrical and optical components are connected to one another in a compact construction. A minimal expenditure on assembly and adjustment is achieved through a small quantity of individual parts. The compact spectrometer comprises an entrance slit, an imaging grating, one or more detector elements in rows or matrices, and elements of a controlling and evaluating unit. The detector elements and the entrance slit are arranged on a shared support, the elements of the controlling and evaluating unit being arranged on the free surfaces of the support. The entrance slit and the detector elements and the imaging spherical grating recessed into the spectrometer housing are arranged symmetric to an imaginary center axis of the support. Due to its compact size and the minimized expenditure on adjustment and assembly for its manufacture, the inventive spectrometer has numerous applications.