A lifting apparatus, including a support carriage movable along a track, a lifting element for holding a load, a lifting device for raising and lowering the lifting element vertically relative to the support carriage. The lifting device includes at least two tension elements, wherein each tension element can be wound onto the supporting carriage by a winding apparatus. A first drive is provided for driving a first winding apparatus and a second drive is provided for driving a second winding apparatus. The first drive has a drive motor which drives a shaft by a conical gear mechanism, the shaft drives a roller of the first winding apparatus by a gear mechanism element and the second drive has a drive motor which drives a roller of the second winding apparatus by a spur gear, parallel-shaft gear or planetary gear mechanism.