In a synchronizing device for a TDM system which operates at a high speed, in order to be able to use a slower, energy-saving circuit technique, in the event of n possible phase positions, the TDM signal is split between n parallel shift registers. The outputs of the shift registers are connected to a frame code word recognition circuit. During a synchronization process, the slower-operating clock pulse train of the shift registers is delayed by the period of the received clock pulse train. As a result, the next possible phase position is checked. This procedure is repeated until the frame code word recognition circuit emits a synchronization signal.