Disclosed is a contact element for pressing into a hole of a printed circuit board. The contact element has a rod-shaped press-fit zone having an insertion region and an adjacent deformable region. The width of the deformable region is larger than the diameter of the hole, and the width of the insertion region is smaller than the diameter of the hole. The deformable region has a front region and a rear region that both have a closed opening, the openings being separated by a crossbar extending transversally to the insertion direction of the contact element. The crossbar extends at least in one part at a pointed angle of between 5 and 85 degrees to the insertion direction, and is thus subjected to an elastic force when the limbs are pressed together, creating a steadily increasing compression force for pressing the limbs against the wall of the opening.