The invention relates to a method and to a control unit for operating the plasma generation apparatus.The invention is based on a method and a control unit in which a voltage is applied as an ignition voltage between an anode and a cathode for ignition of a plasma.In order to enable a gentle operation of the plasma generation apparatus it is provided in accordance with the invention that a check is continuously carried out during the ignition process whether the ignition of the plasma has been effected. Additionally, the ignition voltage (UZ) is increased starting from an initial ignition voltage (UZA) and after recognizing an effected ignition (at the point in time tZ) of the plasma, the voltage is reduced between the anode and the cathode to a maintenance voltage (UA).