A device for automatically controlling a system of high-lift elements of an aircraft, which high-lift elements can be set to a retracted and to several extended configurations for cruising, holding flight, takeoff or landing; comprising a flap control unit that by way of a control connection is connected, so as to be functionally effective, to a drive system of the high-lift elements; and an operating unit, connected to the flap control unit, for entering operating instructions that influence the setting of the high-lift elements, where the flap control unit is provided for calculating switching speeds that are associated with the respective configurations of the high-lift elements, where the direction of the configuration change and the operating modes of the automatic system for adjusting the high-lift elements, depending on flight state data and further flight-operation-relevant data; and where, in addition, the flap control unit can also automatically carry out switchover of the operating modes for takeoff or for the landing approach and is provided to automatically generate the instructions that instruct the configuration change, depending on the flight speed.