There appear to be several unrelated groups of people referred to as Cimbri {KMR} in history.

One of the most notable groups of Cimbri {KMR} is the one that was living on the Jutland {JD} Peninsula (Cymbric {KMR} Penninsula) about 200 years before Christ. Who were they? Where did they come from? Apparently no one really knows. What is known is that the names of their leaders were purely Celtic type names, so we can assume that they were a Celtic tribe. Most likely they were one of the many offshoots of the Cimmeroi {KMR} from 500 years earlier.

At any rate about 115 years before Christ, these Cimbri {KMR} began migrating south into the Danube {DN} Valley, into Gaul {GL}, into Italy, and into Spain. In the process, they came into frequent conflict with the Roman army, usually defeating them. Finally in 101 BC the Roman army defeated these Cimbri {KMR} at Vercellae.

According to Ceasar the Aduatuci of AD 57 were descended from these Cimbri {KMR}. Ceasar wrote, “When the Aduatuci, …” “They (the Aduatuci) were descended from the Cimbri {KMR} and Teutones, who, …” (De Bello Gallico {The Gallic War}, book II, chapter 29)

A second group called Cimbri, appear about the twelfth century in northern Italy. As best that can be determined, this group is of Bavarian origin being brought in as woodcutters (Tzimberers in Bavarian-Tyrolese dialect of the eleventh century) from Bavaria by rich Italians. They were settled in the Italian provinces of Trento, Vicenza, and Verona, where they remain to this day. They speak a Teutonic (German) language relatively unchanged for the last 800 years. Most likely there is no ethnic connection between these Cimbri and the Celtic Cimbri {KMR} above, as the name of these people is probably derived from Tzimberi instead of Cimmeroi {KMR}.