The present invention specifies an arc quenching device having improved current limitation and reduced heat losses, in the case of which a moving contact piece (31) is not subject to increased erosion and wear. For this purpose, a quenching path according to the invention is provided which takes over an arc from said contact piece (31) and comprises arc guide rails (61), a quenching chamber (71) and a current-limiting element (8). Based on circuit breakers with double interruption, the current-limiting element (8) is preferably provided between arc guide rails (62, 52) of a second contact point and provided with a blowing section (81) for additional magnetic blowing of the arc of the first contact point.