I've been learning German, however I can't find much on the history of German speaking peoples beyond the World Wars, and the Reformation, which is all good... however "the Reformation" was the ONE college level history course I got an A in and the World Wars don't hold that much fascination for me. I'm not looking to become a scholar on the subject, just figured I'd turn my motivation for the language into motivation to learn about the history.
What else should I be looking into if I want to dive into the world of German history?
Any (English Language) resources you could recommend?
If you look into Weimar Era Germany, you are almost guaranteed to stumble into a topic that fascinates you.
It may only span fourteen years, but this short interwar period was a hotbed of intellectual exploration and cultural advancement. You have the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles and reparations; efforts to control hyperinflation and political extremism; a golden era and a great depression; an explosion of artistic creativity and freedom; Bauhaus and other new schools of design; artists employing Expressionism and New Objectivity; the classics of silent-era cinema and early sound films; foundational works in the fields of both philosophy and quantum mechanics.
I truly believe that this era has everything - from decadence to debt. You're bound to find something there.
I would recommend you find out for yourself and read a survey book on German history. Germany: The Long Road West by Winkler is a good start.
If you are too impatient for that, have a look at topics such as the German Empire, Weimar germany, the GDR, post-war Germany, ...
English language sources are relatively hard to come by, but try:
Tellenbach, Gerd. Church, State, and Christian Society at the Time of the Investiture Contest. Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 27. Toronto ; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press in association with the Medieval Academy of America, 1991.
For HRE/Papal history.
Look around for Prussian history, before 1870, "Germany" was the Kingdom of Prussia, so it would be best if you looked for Prussian history rather than Germany history. Beyond that, what would you be interested in in respect to "German" history?
Germany is hard to pin down in history before the country actually came into existence in 1876. It normally gets lumped around "central Europe" or general European studies which is extremely aggravating.
Iron Kingdom is an amazing book on Prussia. It's one of my favorite books.
A Mighty Fortress is a quick read and while it paints with fairly broad strokes, it does give a base line of where to go next.
[The Thirty Years War](http://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Years-Review-Books-Classics/dp/1590171462/ref=pd_sim_b_3? ie=UTF8&refRID=0NA8ZWC8ZR2BSJ3PWK6B) is I find a more approachable tome on the Thirty Years War because that era in history is stupidly horrendously complicated.
The Rites of Peace is a breakdown of the fall of Napolean and focuses on how Europe was restructured once he was out of power. I just started it and while it doesn't focus exclusively on the German states, it gives a pretty good idea over all of what was going on.
I hope these help. Good luck.
If you're interested in German-speaking people, and not specifically German history, you can look into groups that moved to other countries, specifically anabaptist groups like the Hutterites or the Amish in the US. There are some sizeable pockets of German-speaking communities in surprising places (like Texas).
For German history, I'd second the recommendation on looking into the Weimar Republic. It's a fascinating period, and not often taught, since it was between the two World Wars.
For a really different sort of thing, you can explore art - Werner Herzog has some great films, there are many great German Operas, and there's a long history of painting and sculpture coming from German (or that region of the world before there was a "Germany") artists.