The present disclosure relates to converters. Embodiments of the teachings herein may be employed for converting an input voltage present between two input terminals into an alternating voltage with a prespecified amplitude and frequency for the activation of a single or multiphase load. For example, a converter may include: at least two submodules of an inverter arm connected in series with one another and a heat sink. Each of the submodules may include: a circuit carrier; at least two controllable switching elements electrically connected on the circuit carrier; and a first and a second terminal. The first main terminals of the controllable switching elements may be connected thermally to a cooling surface of the heat sink. The heat sink may include a number of heat sink parts electrically insulated from one another. An electrical connection of the second submodule terminal of the first submodule to the first submodule terminal of the second submodule may include a respective assigned heat sink part.