The invention relates to a device and a method for the gentle placement of a patient in a defined position. In order to provide a device for the placement of patients which both allows gentle positioning and at the same time holds the patient in a defined position, the device according to the invention comprises a mattress having a surface able to adopt a flexible state, as a result of being subjected to a first control signal, and a rigid state, as a result of being subjected to a second control signal, a cushion which is filled with a fluid, rests on the mattress and comprises a flexible wall in the region of the patient or the body part of the patient resting on the cushion, and a fluid pump which is connected via a valve to the fluid in the cushion and via which the internal pressure and/or the internal volume of the cushion may be adjusted to a predetermined value.