76 through the bores 77 78 79 for reasons of space the pressure sensor 76 is disposed in the region of the piston rod 14 upon installation of the cylinder and or during operation of the cylinder 2 deformation of the valve housing 24 can occur the deformation may have various causes some of which are listed here by way of example the valve housing 24 may deform as a consequence of the connection of the valve housing 24 to the piston rod 14 with the aid of the union nut 44 however the deformation of the valve housing 24 may also originate in the connection of the piston 12 to the valve housing 24 a deformation of the valve housing 24 may also be caused by heat for example in the cylinder 2 embodied according to the invention and having the play 60 between the slide guide 23 and the valve housing 24 deformation of the valve housing 24 is kept away from the slide guide 23 if the play 60 is dimensioned adequately and if the elastic elements 74 75 are elastic enough then the slide guide 23 remains dimensionally stable even in the presence of major deformation of the valve housing 24 even with a very small gap 68 seizing between the control slide 21 and the slide guide 2 is therefore prevented with certainty the cylinder 2 according to the invention offers the further advantage that in the selection of materials for the slide guide 23 and valve housing 24 whichever material is best suited can be used without having to take the valve housing 24 into account when selecting the material for the slide guide 23 since.