A drive for a rotary printing press makes a reliable transmission of high torques possible and, with low structural expenditure, setting of the phase in the main drive gear train. In the drive for a rotary printing press, two adjacent transfer drums are mounted with shaft journals in side walls, a gearwheel of the gearwheel mechanism is disposed fixedly in terms of rotation on the shaft journals and the gearwheels are not in direct engagement with one another. The gearwheels of the adjacent transfer drums are permanently in engagement in each case with one intermediate gear. The gearwheels of the adjacent transfer drums and the intermediate gears are kept at a spacing from one another in each case with one lever. The intermediate gears are kept at a spacing in each case from one another with a coupler. The coupler can be disconnected and the engagement of the teeth of the intermediate gears can be canceled.