Ostsiedlung (German pronunciation: [ˈɔstˌziːdlʊŋ], literally east settling), in English called the German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of German-speaking people from the Holy Roman Empire, especially its southern and western portions, into less-populated regions of eastern Central Europe and western Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia in the south to Estonia in the north, and extended into Transylvania in the southeast. In part, Ostsiedlung followed the territorial expansion of the Empire and the Teutonic Order.