A vibration exciter for a soil compacting device, comprising a first unbalanced shaft, a second unbalanced shaft, which is arranged axially parallel to the first unbalanced shaft and which is contra-directionally rotatably coupled to the first unbalanced shaft in a form-locked manner, and a drive device for rotatably driving one of the two unbalanced shafts. The second unbalanced shaft has a first unbalanced shaft half and a second unbalanced shaft half, which is arranged coaxially to the first unbalanced shaft half and which can rotate relative to the first unbalanced shaft half. At least one respective unbalanced mass is arranged on the first unbalanced shaft, on the first unbalanced shaft half, and on the second unbalanced shaft.