A method for hydrogenating an ester with molecular hydrogen to give the corresponding alcohols at a temperature of 50 to 200°C and a pressure of 0.1 to 20 MPa abs in the presence of a five-fold or six-fold coordinated ruthenium complex (I), where the ruthenium complex can also be bridged to form a dimer, wherein the ruthenium complex comprises a tridentate ligand L of the general formula (II) where R 1 , R 2 are each independently an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, an aromatic hydrocarbon radical having 6 or 10 carbon atoms or an araliphatic hydrocarbon radical having 7 to 12 carbon atoms, where the hydrocarbon radicals specified are unsubstituted or substituted by 1 to 3 methoxy, thiomethoxy or dimethylamino groups, and the two radicals R 1 and R 2 may also be bonded to each other to form a 5-to 10-membered ring including the phosphorus atom, R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 10 , R 11 are each independently hydrogen, linear C 1 to C 4 -alkyl, branched C 3 to C 4 -alkyl, methoxy, hydroxyl, trifluoromethyl, nitrile or dialkylamino each independently having 1 to 4 carbon atoms per alkyl group, R 7 , R 8 , R 9 are each independently hydrogen, linear C 1 to C 4 -alkyl or branched C 3 to C 4 -alkyl, n, m are each independently 0 or 1, and the solid-dashed double lines are a single or double bond, with the proviso that in the case of n = 1, both solid-dashed double lines represent a single bond and m is 1, and in the case of n = 0, one solid-dashed double line represents a single bond and the other solid-dashed double line represents a double bond, where in the case of a double bond on the side facing the phenyl ring m = 1, in the case of a double bond on the side facing the pyridyl ring m = 0, or both solid-dashed double lines represent a single bond and m equals 1. R 1 , R 2 are each independently an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, an aromatic hydrocarbon radical having 6 or 10 carbon atoms or an araliphatic hydrocarbon radical having 7 to 12 carbon atoms, where the hydrocarbon radicals specified are unsubstituted or substituted by 1 to 3 methoxy, thiomethoxy or dimethylamino groups, and the two radicals R 1 and R 2 may also be bonded to each other to form a 5-to 10-membered ring including the phosphorus atom, R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 10 , R 11 are each independently hydrogen, linear C 1 to C 4 -alkyl, branched C 3 to C 4 -alkyl, methoxy, hydroxyl, trifluoromethyl, nitrile or dialkylamino each independently having 1 to 4 carbon atoms per alkyl group, R 7 , R 8 , R 9 are each independently hydrogen, linear C 1 to C 4 -alkyl or branched C 3 to C 4 -alkyl, n, m are each independently 0 or 1, and the solid-dashed double lines are a single or double bond, with the proviso that in the case of n = 1, both solid-dashed double lines represent a single bond and m is 1, and in the case of n = 0, one solid-dashed double line represents a single bond and the other solid-dashed double line represents a double bond, where in the case of a double bond on the side facing the phenyl ring m = 1, in the case of a double bond on the side facing the pyridyl ring m = 0, or both solid-dashed double lines represent a single bond and m equals 1. <EOS>