公元919年，萨克森公爵亨利一世当选为东法兰克王国的国王，建立了萨克森王朝，正式创立德意志王国。萨克森王朝的地域大致位于今荷兰、德国西部、瑞士和奥地利。严格意义上的德意志历史的就此开始。
勃兰登堡-普鲁士（德语：Brandenburg-Preußen）是德国历史上的一个国家，指近代史中从1618年至1701年存在的勃兰登堡霍亨索伦家族的国家。
勃兰登堡与普鲁士都是霍亨索伦家族血统，而主系的勃兰登堡选帝侯家族以政治联姻方式控制了普鲁士公国，更趁1618年普鲁士公国霍亨索伦家族绝嗣之机，夺得了该国的继任权。该次联姻更使勃兰登堡在1614年签订了桑腾条约中，获得了吞并三个莱茵河域的附属国（马克伯国、莱温斯堡伯国与克里维斯公国）的准许。三十年战争将德意志地区毁坏殆尽，选帝侯三度变更，军队恣意蹂躏，到处烧杀抢掠。及至战争完结，德意志人口骤减一半，柏林等城市一片颓垣败瓦，历时很久才得以复兴。
三十年战争以1648年签订的西发里亚和约作结，普鲁士获得了明登和赫伯斯达，还有远波美拉尼亚（1653年吞并之）与马德堡（1680年吞并之）的继承权。而在1657年签订的布伦堡条约则使普鲁士公国脱离波兰的藩属地位，并获得了劳恩堡和比余托夫地区及德拉咸地区，更将波美拉尼亚的版图扩展到奥得河。
勃兰登堡-普鲁士是共主邦联，也是普鲁士王国的前身。在普鲁士升格为王国之后，勃兰登堡-普鲁士常简称为普鲁士。
The Kingdom of Germany grew out of East Francia in the tenth century.
The eastern partition of the Treaty of Verdun of 843 was never entirely Frankish and consisted also of large populations of Saxons, Bavarii, Thuringii, Alemanni and Frisii. When the crown passed to a non-Frankish dynasty (the Liudolfings), the term regnum Teutonicum or Teutonicorum came into informal use. By the High Middle Ages, the German character of the united stem duchies was generally recognised.
As the other various states of the Carolingian then Holy Roman Empire removed themselves from its orbit, leaving solely Germany, her kings holding the imperial title and struggling for it, the German state became synonymous with the Empire and in the time of the Renaissance, the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" united the two concepts of empire and kingdom. In that sense, the German kingdom survived until the abdication of Francis II in 1806.
The term rex Teutonicorum, or "king of the Germans", first came into recorded formal use during the Investiture Controversy perhaps as a polemical tool against the Emperor Henry IV by Pope Gregory VII in the late eleventh century. In the twelfth century, in order to stress the imperial and transnational character of their office, the emperors began to employ the title rex Romanorum or "king of the Romans" on their election (by the prince-electors, seven German bishops and noblemen). The royal titles of Germany, Italy, and Burgundy, which traditionally had their own courts, laws, and chanceries, remained nominally with the Holy Roman Emperors until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 or the abdication of Francis II in 1806.