Abstract: Cooling device for slabs comprising a cooling trough and a locating frame provided with compartments in the cooling trough for the vertical location of the slabs by means of a crane able to travel on a track above or along the cooling trough, which crane engages the slabs in an upright position with suitable gripper devices and places them in the locating frame or lifts them from the latter after cooling. The apparatus further comprises two independent tilting devices in the region of the delivery and discharge roller beds for placing the slabs in an upright position and a flat position. The two independent tilting devices are located in the region of the same end of the slab-cooling trough and staggered with respect to each other such that the center-to-center distance of two slabs placed in an upright position by the latter and located in the range of the travelling crane corresponds to the center-to-center distance between the compartments of the locating frame.