A piston-cylinder unit, comprising a cylinder which is subdivided by a piston on a piston rod into two working chambers. Between the two working chambers, there is a fluid connection which can be blocked by means of a valve arrangement having at least two individual closing valves arranged in series, each with a valve inflow side and a valve outflow side. The valves open sequentially. In the flow path between the individual valves, there is a throttle arrangement which produces a pressure reduction between the valve outflow side of the first closing valve towards the valve inflow side of the following closing valve. As the opening of the first closing valve increases, the effect of the throttle arrangement decreases; to the same extent, the pressurization increases on the valve inflow side of the following closing valve. The valve arrangement features two flow-through directions and is made so that each can be blocked.