So why were there Germans in Romania ?

Several people have asked how is it that I have German relatives in Romania... here is the readers digest version :)   -   Actually the Germans were in the area known as Banat.... it includes the areas around Timisoara that expand into Hungary and Serbia  ( if you look at historical maps you'll see that WWi and WWii mess with the borders )  After the Turks were pushed back, in the 1700s  the Austrian monarchy ( ruled by  Joseph and Theresia wanted to expand their kingdom while at the same time protect it. They offered free land and tax exemptions to the people in south west Germany ( alsace, wurttemberg etc ) ... so a bunch of them went. Turns out the area was all swamp because of the rivers in this area had no real direction, but then they permanently directed the rivers and all was good.