The Germans of Romania (or Romanian-Germans) are not a single, unitary, homogeneous group, but rather a series of various regional sub-groups, each with their afferent culture, traditions, dialects, and history.

This claim stems from the fact that various German-speaking populations had previously arrived in the territory of present-day Romania in different waves or stages of settlement, initially starting with the High Middle Ages, firstly to southern and northeastern Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (some of them even crossing the outer Carpathians to neighbouring Moldavia and Wallachia), then subsequently during the Modern Age in other Habsburg-ruled lands (such as Bukovina, at the time part of Cisleithania, or the Banat).
Subsequently, the Romanian Old Kingdom was also colonized by Germans, firstly in Dobruja and then gradually in Moldavia and Wallachia.

Therefore, given their rather complex geographic background, besides major border changes took place in the region throughout history (after World War I, Romania expanded its territory from the pre-war  137,000 km² (53,000 sq mi) to 295,049 km² (113,919 sq mi).
In order to understand their language, culture, customs, and history, the Germans of Romania must be regarded as the following independent sub-groups:
Transylvanian Saxons – the largest and eldest German community in the territory of modern-day Romania (often simply equated with all Romanian-Germans);
Transylvanian Landlers – expelled Protestants (Evangelical Lutherans) from the region of Salzkammergut, contemporary Austria to southern Transylvania during the 18th century;
Most Banat Swabians as well as the entirety of the Sathmar Swabians – both representing sub-groups of the Danube Swabians (German: Donau Schwaben) in Romania;
Bukovina Germans – once with a sizable or overwhelming demographic presence in all urban centres from the historical region of Bukovina (more specifically Suceava, Gura Humorului, Siret, Rădăuți, Vatra Dornei, and Câmpulung Moldovenesc) or some rural areas of the nowadays Suceava County in northeastern Romania; equally indigenous to Cernăuți and contemporary Chernivtsi province in western Ukraine between the years c. 1780–1940.
Moreover, even to this date, Suceava County is one of the Romanian counties with some of the most significant amount of ethnic Germans in the country;
Zipser Germans, mostly from Maramureş (including Borșa and Vişeu), but also with a smaller presence in southern Bukovina beginning in the 18th century;
Regat Germans (including the Dobrujan Germans);
Bessarabia Germans, Romanian citizens for the period 1918–1940, indigenous to Budjak in southern Bessarabia;
Alsatians as well as small groups of Walsers vintners who also settled in Banat from Alsace, Lorraine, and Switzerland at the invitation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century (though they were not only Alemannic-speaking Swiss but also French and Italian); Subsequently, these settlers came to be known as 'Français du Banat' (i.e. 'Banat French').
The Germans of Romania (or Romanian-Germans) are not a single, unitary, homogeneous group, but rather a series of various regional sub-groups, each with their afferent culture, traditions, dialects, and history.
This claim stems from the fact that various German-speaking populations had previously arrived in the territory of present-day Romania in different waves or stages of settlement, initially starting with the High Middle Ages, firstly to southern and northeastern Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (some of them even crossing the outer Carpathians to neighbouring Moldavia and Wallachia), then subsequently during the Modern Age in other Habsburg-ruled lands (such as Bukovina, at the time part of Cisleithania, or the Banat). Subsequently, the Romanian Old Kingdom was also colonized by Germans, firstly in Dobruja and then gradually in Moldavia and Wallachia.
Therefore, given their rather complex geographic background, besides major border changes took place in the region throughout history (after World War I, Romania expanded its territory from the pre-war  137,000 km² (53,000 sq mi) to 295,049 km² (113,919 sq mi). In order to understand their language, culture, customs, and history, the Germans of Romania must be regarded as the following independent sub-groups:
Transylvanian Saxons – the largest and eldest German community in the territory of modern-day Romania (often simply equated with all Romanian-Germans);
Transylvanian Landlers – expelled Protestants (Evangelical Lutherans) from the region of Salzkammergut, contemporary Austria to southern Transylvania during the 18th century;
Most Banat Swabians as well as the entirety of the Sathmar Swabians – both representing sub-groups of the Danube Swabians (German: Donau Schwaben) in Romania;
Bukovina Germans – once with a sizable or overwhelming demographic presence in all urban centres from the historical region of Bukovina (more specifically Suceava, Gura Humorului, Siret, Rădăuți, Vatra Dornei, and Câmpulung Moldovenesc) or some rural areas of the nowadays Suceava County in northeastern Romania; equally indigenous to Cernăuți and contemporary Chernivtsi province in western Ukraine between the years c. 1780–1940. Moreover, even to this date, Suceava County is one of the Romanian counties with some of the most significant amount of ethnic Germans in the country;
Zipser Germans, mostly from Maramureş (including Borșa and Vişeu), but also with a smaller presence in southern Bukovina beginning in the 18th century;
Regat Germans (including the Dobrujan Germans);
Bessarabia Germans, Romanian citizens for the period 1918–1940, indigenous to Budjak in southern Bessarabia;
Alsatians as well as small groups of Walsers vintners who also settled in Banat from Alsace, Lorraine, and Switzerland at the invitation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century (though they were not only Alemannic-speaking Swiss but also French and Italian); Subsequently, these settlers came to be known as 'Français du Banat' (i.e. 'Banat French').
Germans of Romania