An electric terminal block having a block housing, two conductor connection elements, two current bars, and two additional current bar pieces. Each current bar has a connection portion, and first and second contact portions, each connection portion being paired with a conductor connection element. To obtain a reliable switching sequence when plugging and unplugging an operating or test plug, the terminal housing is equipped with two spring elements, each of which has a connection portion and an elastic contact portion; each of the spring elements is electrically connected to one of the current bar pieces; the contact portions together form a second contact region for receiving the plug, and being mutually spaced when the plug is not plugged in. The contact region of the spring elements is arranged in front of the contact region of the current bars in the plug-in direction of the plug.