A discharge lamp of the short arc type which has an arc tube in which there is a pair of opposed electrodes, a pair of hermetically sealing parts which extend outward from opposite ends of the arc tube, and a trigger wire, each end of which is wound around one of the hermetically sealing parts, with a middle area of the trigger wire running along the outside surface of the arc tube. In the area of at least one of the ends of the trigger wire, a bend is formed which comes to rest on one of the hermetically sealing parts, and following this bend, a fold is formed at the outer end area of the end of the trigger wire.