Method for producing a piston for an internal combustion engine, having the following method steps: - producing, from steel in a forging process, a piston upper part (3, 3', 3") that has a piston crown with a combustion depression (7, 7'), a downwards-oriented annular wall formed radially outwards on the piston crown and an annular support arranged radially inside the annular wall and formed on the underside of the piston crown, wherein the upper part of a cooling duct is formed between the annular wall and the support, - producing, from steel in a forging or casting process, a piston lower part that has two mutually opposing shaft elements (11, 12) which are connected to one another via two mutually opposing pin bosses (13, 14), an annular contact arranged on the upper side of the piston lower part and connected to the pin bosses (13, 14), and a circumferential annular rib arranged radially outwards of the contact and connected to the shaft elements (11, 12), wherein the lower part of the cooling duct is formed between the contact and the annular rib, - welding the piston upper part (3, 3', 3") to the piston lower part via mutually contacting contact surfaces, on one hand of the annular wall and of the annular rib and on the other hand of the support and of the contact, thus closing the cooling duct formed by the piston upper part and by the piston lower part, - finishing the piston with the aid of a chip-removing finishing method, characterized in that - for producing the piston upper part (3, 3', 3"), a piston upper part blank is forged by hot working at 1200°C to 1300°C, after which the piston upper part blank is cold calibrated at room temperature, after which the combustion depression (7, 7') and/or the upper part of the cooling duct undergo no further processing, and after which the radially outer region of the piston crown, the radially outer region of the annular wall, the lower region of the internal surface of the annular wall and the contact surface of the support of the piston upper part blank are finished in order to produce the piston upper part (3, 3', 3"). - producing, from steel in a forging process, a piston upper part (3, 3', 3") that has a piston crown with a combustion depression (7, 7'), a downwards-oriented annular wall formed radially outwards on the piston crown and an annular support arranged radially inside the annular wall and formed on the underside of the piston crown, wherein the upper part of a cooling duct is formed between the annular wall and the support, - producing, from steel in a forging or casting process, a piston lower part that has two mutually opposing shaft elements (11, 12) which are connected to one another via two mutually opposing pin bosses (13, 14), an annular contact arranged on the upper side of the piston lower part and connected to the pin bosses (13, 14), and a circumferential annular rib arranged radially outwards of the contact and connected to the shaft elements (11, 12), wherein the lower part of the cooling duct is formed between the contact and the annular rib, - welding the piston upper part (3, 3', 3") to the piston lower part via mutually contacting contact surfaces, on one hand of the annular wall and of the annular rib and on the other hand of the support and of the contact, thus closing the cooling duct formed by the piston upper part and by the piston lower part, - finishing the piston with the aid of a chip-removing finishing method, - for producing the piston upper part (3, 3', 3"), a piston upper part blank is forged by hot working at 1200°C to 1300°C, after which the piston upper part blank is cold calibrated at room temperature, after which the combustion depression (7, 7') and/or the upper part of the cooling duct undergo no further processing, and after which the radially outer region of the piston crown, the radially outer region of the annular wall, the lower region of the internal surface of the annular wall and the contact surface of the support of the piston upper part blank are finished in order to produce the piston upper part (3, 3', 3").