A steering column for a motor vehicle includes a first and a second part, which in the event of a vehicle crash can be displaced relative to each other in a displacement direction. At least one absorption element acts between the two parts for absorbing energy during the mutual displacement of the two parts, and at least one shift unit, which includes a shift component that can be shifted between a passive and an active shift position. The amount of the energy absorbed during the mutual displacement of the two parts differs in the passive and the active shift position of the shift component. During a displacement of the two parts in the event of a crash, a mutual energy-absorbing displacement takes place between the shift component being in the active shift position thereof and at least one section of the absorption element in an engagement region of the absorption element in which the shift element engages in the active shift position thereof, or between the shift component being in the active shift position thereof and one of the two parts that are mutually displaced in the event of a crash in an engagement region of said part in which the shift component engages in the active shift position thereof.