A method for the start-up of a lighting system having lamps and a central control system, wherein each lamp has an identification code independently of its position and a position code assigned by a control device, has the following steps: a) Separating the lamps into two groups by putting one group in a first state and the other group in a second state, b) selecting one of the lamps and entering its state into the operating device selecting the group of lamps that has the same state as the selected lamp for further steps, while the other group is no longer considered, d) when the selected group does not only have the selected lamp, the steps a)-d) are carried out again e) assigning the position code to the remaining lamp, to bring the code directly into relation with the identification code, f) carrying out the steps a)-e) for further lamps.