The apparatus (3) has a heating device (9) comprising a heating path (8) for heating plastics material pre-forms (10). A supply device (30) supplies the pre-forms to a sterilization device (20), which sterilizes the pre-forms. The sterilization device has an external disinfecting unit (21) for sterilizing the pre-forms on external wall surfaces and an internal disinfecting unit (22) for sterilizing the pre-forms on internal wall surfaces. The supply device has a heating path conveyor (14) conveying the pre-forms along the heating path to supply the pre-forms to the external disinfecting unit. An independent claim is also included for a method for shaping plastics material pre-forms into plastics material containers.
