A lighting device for vehicles, including a housing, which is closed by a transparent cover panel and contains a holographic lamp unit having has a light source unit, and including an optical unit containing a holographic element for generating a holographic luminous surface, the holographic element being disposed between the light source unit and the cover panel, so that it may be back-lit with the aid of the light source unit, and the holographic unit has a structure such that the holographic luminous surface is disposed between the holographic element and the cover panel, forming a distance from the holographic element and the cover panel.