Abstract: A hydraulic drive system has a consumer of hydraulic power connected to a pressure medium source, e.g., a hydraulic motor 1. The consumer can be actuated by a control valve 4 throttling in intermediate positions; its width of opening is determined by a pressure difference formed at the control valve 4. The pressure difference is derived from a control pressure to be prescribed and the load pressure of the consumer. The consumer can thus be driven with a definite power or a definite torque. To limit the movement speed of the consumer, it is proposed to reduce the control pressure as a function of the speed of movement. The control pressure is present in a control pressure line 7 or 8, which empty at a charging space of the control valve 4, active in the opening direction. A drain line 16 branches from the control pressure line 7 or 8, in which a multiway valve spring-loaded in the closing direction and throttling in intermediate positions is located.