A method for producing a ceramic cathode layer on an electrically conductive substrate includes applying a coating to the electrically conductive substrate, the coating being in a form of a suspension including at least one suspending agent and at least one ceramic material. The method further includes heating the coating in a reducing atmosphere such that the ceramic material is completely or in part reduced to a fusible reaction product, heating the coating in a reducing atmosphere to temperatures above the melting point of the reaction product so as to form a melt, densifying or sintering the coating in a reducing atmosphere at temperatures that are 100° C. greater than a melting temperature of the reaction product, and reoxidizing the densified or sintered coating in an oxidizing atmosphere in a temperature range of between 400° C. and 1,200° C.