A hydraulic cylinder for a hydraulic clutch actuating system for motor vehicles has a piston subassembly with a piston and piston rod, a cylinder housing in which a pressure chamber is variably bounded at one side by the piston and fixedly bounded at the other side by a base of the cylinder housing. A spring element is arranged at the side of the piston opposite from the pressure chamber and is supported at one end on a spring plate on the housing side and operatively connected at the other end with the piston rod so as to bias the piston subassembly in a direction away from the base. A fixing section fixes the piston subassembly in a predetermined stroke setting with respect to the cylinder housing prior to first actuation of the hydraulic cylinder and is constructed to release the piston subassembly relative to the cylinder housing upon first actuation.