A fuse has a first contact and a second contact, with the second contact being used to electrically contact the device to be protected. The fuse has a fuse element that connects the first contact to the second contact. The fuse also has an additional contact being arranged so as to be insulated from the first contact and insulated from the second contact and, in an untripped state, is contactless with respect to the fuse element, with the first contact being directly connected to the first potential during operation and with the device to be protected being directly connected to the second potential during operation, with the additional contact also being directly connected to the second potential during operation. A fourth contact makes external triggering available, with triggering resulting in an electric arc that causes the fuse element to fuse.