The present invention relates to antimicrobial peptides of the general formula AxByCz with x, z≥1, y≥3 and x+y+z≤50, where A and C, in each case independently of one another, have at least 65% basic amino acids and B has at least 65% hydrophobic and/or nonpolar amino acids and comprises a direct sequence of at least three hydrophobic amino acids. Moreover, a medical use of the peptides, a conjugate and an antimicrobial composition are indicated.