Charging station having - an electric charging connection for connecting a charging cable of an electric vehicle and - an overload protection device having a switching device for disconnecting a charging current (I1-I3) flowing through the overload protection device in the event of an overload, - wherein the charging station is suitable for reading, at the charging connection, a load capacity identifier specifying the electrical load capacity of the charging cable, - a single-phase or polyphase feed line is connected to the charging connection of the charging station, via which feed line the charging current (I1-I3) flows, regardless of the load capacity identifier of the charging cable, to the charging connection of the charging station, - the overload protection device is connected to the feed line and monitors same, and - the overload protection device is an overload protection device with automatic switchover, wherein - in each case at least one maximum current value is stored as identifier-specific tripping criterion (I16A-I70A) in the overload protection device for at least two load capacity identifiers of the charging cable, and - the overload protection device is suitable for automatically selecting, on the basis of the load capacity identifier of the charging cable, the at least one identifier-specific tripping criterion (I16A-I70A) assigned to the load capacity identifier and for disconnecting a switching device, arranged in the feed line, of the overload protection device on the basis of the selected tripping criterion (I16A-I70A), characterized in that the overload protection device is set up to activate the switching device arranged in the feed line only when the maximum current value is exceeded for longer than a predetermined time period. - an electric charging connection for connecting a charging cable of an electric vehicle and - an overload protection device having a switching device for disconnecting a charging current (I1-I3) flowing through the overload protection device in the event of an overload, - wherein the charging station is suitable for reading, at the charging connection, a load capacity identifier specifying the electrical load capacity of the charging cable, - a single-phase or polyphase feed line is connected to the charging connection of the charging station, via which feed line the charging current (I1-I3) flows, regardless of the load capacity identifier of the charging cable, to the charging connection of the charging station, - the overload protection device is connected to the feed line and monitors same, and - the overload protection device is an overload protection device with automatic switchover, wherein - in each case at least one maximum current value is stored as identifier-specific tripping criterion (I16A-I70A) in the overload protection device for at least two load capacity identifiers of the charging cable, and - the overload protection device is suitable for automatically selecting, on the basis of the load capacity identifier of the charging cable, the at least one identifier-specific tripping criterion (I16A-I70A) assigned to the load capacity identifier and for disconnecting a switching device, arranged in the feed line, of the overload protection device on the basis of the selected tripping criterion (I16A-I70A), characterized in that the overload protection device is set up to activate the switching device arranged in the feed line only when the maximum current value is exceeded for longer than a predetermined time period.