AIRBAG OF A VEHICLE OCCUPANT RESTRAINT SYSTEM

An airbag of a vehicle occupant restraint system has an actively releasable tether element () disposed in an interior () of the airbag () which is connected, at an airbag-side fixation (), permanently to the airbag () in the region of a contact zone () for the occupant, and which comprises a detachable fixing point () for the release. The airbag () can take up a smaller first filled volume (V) in which the tether element () and the detachable fixing point () are not released, and a larger second filled volume (V) in which the tether element () is released at the actively detachable fixing point (). In addition to the tether element (), a tether element restrainer () disposed in the interior () of the airbag () is provided which acts upon a point of action () on a vehicle-side portion () of the tether element () distant from the airbag-side permanent fixation () of the tether element () and which is permanently fixed to a coupling point () distant from the contact zone () so that the vehicle-side portion () of the released tether element () remains connected fixedly to the vehicle via the tether element restrainer ().