A device for producing plastic containers may include a heating element for heating plastic parisons, a transport system for transporting the plastic parisons along a pre-defined transport path, and a shaping element arranged along the transport path, downstream of the heating device. The shaping element shapes the plastic parisons to form plastic containers. The device has a sterilization element that applies a free-flowing medium to a wall of the plastic parisons in order to sterilize said wall, the sterilization device being arranged along the transport path of the containers such that the sterilization takes place after the heating process applied to the containers in the heating device and before the end of the shaping process in the shaping element.