Vacuum circuit breaker

A vacuum circuit breaker, comprising:

• a vacuum circuit breaker tube having a vacuum housing;
• a contact system disposed in said a vacuum housing, said contact system having two contacts being movable relative to one another;
• an electrical pre-arcing unit for igniting an arc along an arc current path, said electrical pre-arcing unit being disposed in said vacuum housing and having an ignition electrode;
• said two contacts including first and second geometrically separated current paths, said first current path being said arc current path and said second current path being a continuous current path;
• said two contacts having finger-shaped extensions along a switching axis, said finger-shaped extensions of said two contacts engaging with one another, said finger-shaped extensions including flanks having contact surfaces of said arc current path, said contacts with said finger-shaped extensions being oriented along said switching axis;
• said continuous current path having contact surfaces making contact with one another in a closed state of the circuit breaker;
• and
• said contact surfaces of said arc current path not contacting one another in the closed state of the circuit breaker.