The present invention relates to a braking device (1) of a rail vehicle, comprising a brake actuator (5) and a brake pad (6) which can be moved as a result, and a brake disc (7) which interacts with said brake pad (6) and is connected fixedly to a wheel (8) so as to rotate with it, in order to generate a braking force which retards the rail vehicle upon a braking request of an electronic control unit (2), wherein the braking force is produced in a manner which is dependent on the normal force (16) which is generated by way of the brake pad (6) being pressed onto the brake disc (7) and on a coefficient of friction which is dependent on the relative speed (17), material (12; 13) and temperature of the brake pad and the brake disc, wherein at least one braking parameter profile is stored in the control unit (2), which braking parameter profile is based on a coefficient of friction profile (15) which is produced during a braking operation from an initial speed to a target speed at a constant normal force (16) and a combination of test bench parameters (14), and wherein the control unit (2) has a computing unit (3) which, upon a braking request, time-modulates the one normal force profile (22) according to the at least one braking parameter profile, in order to generate a setpoint braking force profile.