With regard to phosphor thermometry, the materials Y3Al5O12:Eu (YAG:Eu) and YAlO3:Eu (YAP:Eu) were synthesised and characterised in order to substitute the commonly used thermographic phosphor Y2O3:Eu, whose temperature sensitive luminescence lifetime exhibits a strong and most often undesirable cross-sensitivity to the oxygen concentration of the surrounding gas phase. The synthesis is outlined in detail and the crystallographic structure was characterised by X-ray diffraction. In a second step, the luminescence properties following pulsed UV laser excitation were determined. In this context, the emission spectra and the temperature lifetime characteristics were monitored. For Y3Al5O12:Eu and YAlO3:Eu, temperature sensitive ranges of 1000 K-1470 K and 850 K-1300 K were identified. Contrary to Y2O3:Eu, both materials do show much lower cross-sensitivities to the oxygen concentration of the surrounding gas phase. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.