The invention relates to a vacuum contactor. When a drive coil (2) is subjected to a pick-up current (1A), the armature (3) is pivoted from an armature rest position (AR) into an armature activation position (AB) via a preliminary travel path (sV) and then a driving path (sM). An activating element (4) is pivoted by the armature (3) out of an element rest position (ER), into an element activation position (EB) while the armature is completing the driving path (sM) only. This results in the perfect tripping behavior of the vacuum contactor.
