The article aims to present the results of a comparative analysis of cohabitation biographies (marital, non-marital and pre-marital cohabitation) between Germans without a migration background and Turkish nationals in Germany. To this end, the data of the Generations and Gender Surveys (GGS) from 2005 and 2006 (for Turkish citizens) are used. The results show a fundamentally different lifestyle of Turks in comparison to Germans, in particular within the younger age groups: Turks more seldom have more than one cohabitation, and have shorter pre-marital phases. Non-marital cohabitation is for Turks more seldom an alternative to marriage. All in all, a major change takes place among Germans from older to younger cohorts as to their experience of nonmarital cohabitation, the latter having become the norm among the latter in the course of a biography. This change is virtually unknown among Turks. The age and cohort, the level of education, religiosity and acceptance of non-marital cohabitation impact the experience of non-marital co-habitation.