I've got an idea for a TL kicking around in my head, but I haven't the basis in German history really required for it. What I want is a really early German unification, whether that's into a country actually called "Deutschland" or a more-unified version of the HRE.
This might require a pretty early POD because of all the religious wars, I'm not really sure. Honestly, the renaissance/early modern eras are probably what I know the least about out of any era of history, so I'll be needing some help...
So, I don't care how ASB it is, just throw it out there. Your challenge is to have a significant amount of what's now Germany under a single government by 1650. I don't care where the capital is, it doesn't have to be Berlin.