A large manipulator includes a chassis, a mast pedestal, an articulated mast, and a control unit. The mast pedestal is rotatable around a vertical axis by means of a rotary drive and arranged on the chassis. The articulated mast includes two or more mast arms pivotally-movably connected, via articulated joints, with the respectively adjacent mast pedestal or other mast arm by a pivot drive. The control unit is configured to actuate the pivot drive and/or the rotary drive to move the articulated mast with a control sequence from an initial position of the articulated mast, autonomously, into a pre-specified target position of the articulated mast.