content: Europe was Celtic up until the Italic incursions (3000 BC - 50 BC), at which point from Roman colonization and atrocities, the Brythonic peoples (Romanized-Celts) emerged. After the decline of the Empire, the Germanic peoples (Huns, Goths, Visigoths) then moved into Europe and destroyed/displaced/absorbed much of the Brythonics and what pure-strain Celts remained (50 BC - 400 AD). Essentially, Germans are Central/East European while Celts were West Europeans. Might have been neighbors, but they were absolutely distinct ethnic groups up until they invaded Celt lands and genocided them through migration.