Those researching German ancestors who were from Eastern European countries including Romania, Austro-Hungarian Empire, etc. may want to join the Rootsweb BANAT list. My grandfather, George Becker, immigrated from Hungary to America through Ellis Island in the early 1900's. In the late 1700's, Hungary opened its borders to German settlers, offering them land grants. Many of the villages from the area known as the BANAT have "Familienbuchs"--books written which list every family (parents, children, marriages, dates, etc.) who lived in the town from the late 1700's through the mid-1940's. Several members of the BANAT list had the Familienbuch from my grandfather's home town (Tscherwenka/Crvenka) and supplied me with copies of the pages pertaining to my family--many German families who had migrated there from different areas of Germany. A very knowledgeable and helpful list.