The invention discloses a method for actuating a
spark plug (1) in an international
combustion engine, wherein the
spark plug (1) is assigned a first
ignition coil (42) and second
ignition coil (43). Triggered by a
start signal (24), the primary winding (6) of the first
ignition coil (42) is charged, and the primary winding (7) of the second ignition coil (43) is charged with a
delay D, for which 0<=D, by supplying a
direct current, wherein, whilst each primary winding (6, 7) , is charged, the respective secondary winding (4, 5) is blocked; the primary current supplied to the primary windings (6, 7) is measured; after a period T, the primary winding (6) of the first ignition coil (42) is discharged, and with the
delay D the primary winding (7) of the second ignition coil (43) is discharged; the secondary current flowing through the
spark plug (1) is measured; thereafter the primary windings (6, 7) of the first and second ignition coil (42, 43) start to be charged alternately when the secondary current falls below a threshold; the primary windings (6, 7) are discharged alternately when the primary current reaches an upper threshold; the above steps are repeated until the duration of
discharge between two electrodes (1a, 1b) of the spark plug (1) reaches a predefined value Z.