The disclosure relates to a lifting gear for opening and closing a workstation of a packaging machine, wherein the lifting gear includes a stationarily mounted base, a lifting platform mounted to be height adjustable with respect to the base along a lifting axis for supporting a lower tool part of the workstation, and an adjusting mechanism comprising a drive unit and a toggle means on which the lifting platform is mounted, wherein the adjusting mechanism furthermore includes a pressure part coupled with the toggle means and adjustable by means of the drive unit along the lifting axis, wherein by the displacement of said pressure part along the lifting axis, the toggle means can be actuated for a height adjustment of the lifting platform.