The description relates to a suction gripper for the handling of rectangular workpieces comprising a device which creates a partial vacuum at the suction surface of a large number of suckers. The suction gripper according to the invention is characterized by the suckers (1) being movable in a plane parallel to the sucker plane opposite a suction gripper base frame (6) in which the valves (5), the control unit and possibly the device for generating the vacuum are arranged. Thus workpieces can be gripped from shelves or from transport containers or can be placed in shelves and transport containers.