Internal combustion engine and method of stop position control

The internal combustion engine has a flywheel (4) installed on the crankshaft (1) and provided with a variable flywheel mass for the controlled shutting down and starting of the engine. The flywheel may have a continuously variable mass. The flywheel may have a modular construction consisting of two segments (2,3) which are interconnectable and separable from one another so that the flywheel mass is variable in at least two steps. At least one flywheel segment as a base segment (8) is inseparably connected to the crankshaft. An independent claim is included for a method for the controlled shutting down of an internal combustion engine in which the inertia of a flywheel is varied whereby influence is brought to bear on the run-out movement of the crankshaft.