The invention relates to a capacitive fill
level sensor (10) for measuring the fill level (H1, H2; H1', H2') of a medium (18) in a container (14), having an
electrode unit (12), which contains a strip-shaped measurement
electrode (22), a strip-shaped counter
electrode (24) and a strip-shaped shielding electrode (26, 28, 40), the shielding electrode (26, 28, 40) at least partially surrounding the measurement electrode (22). The capacitive fill
level sensor (10) according to the invention is characterized in that a first AC
voltage source (60) having a predefined frequency and amplitude is provided, to which the shielding electrode (26, 28, 40) is connected such that a shielding
capacitor (54, 56, 58) formed between the shielding electrode (26, 28, 40) and the measurement electrode (22) has a shielding
capacitance that is proportional to the length of the shielding electrode (26, 28, 40), that a second AC
voltage source (68) of equal frequency and a predefined second amplitude is provided, the second amplitude being in phase opposition to the first amplitude, to which AC
voltage source the counter electrode (24) is connected, such that a measurement
capacitor (52) formed between the counter electrode (24) and the measurement electrode (22) has a measurement
capacitance that is proportional to the fill level (H1, H2; H1', H2'), and that the measurement electrode voltage (72) present at the measurement electrode (22) is used to determine the fill level (H1, H2; H1', H2').