AbstractAt Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung Darmstadt the first hydrodynamic motion of a heavy-ion beam volume heated target has been demonstrated. Therefore krypton and xenon cryogenic crystal were irradiated by an intense 300 MeV u−1 Ne10+ beam. The beam was focused onto the crystals with a minimum beam waist of 1.12 mm × 1.42 mm full width at half maximum. A specific energy of 60 J g−1 has been deposited, leading to hydrodynamic motion and the creation of shock waves in the target and finally to its total destruction. The escape velocity of the gas streaming out of the heated volume was estimated to be 200 m s−1. In addition, spectra in the vacuum UV region could be obtained showing the 172 nm xenon emission band.