When the Carolingian line died out and no heirs remained, the Franks and Saxons elected the first German king, Conrad, Duke of Franconia. He reigned from 911 through to 918, but it was his successors, Henry I, Duke of Saxony, and his son Otto I who began accomplishing significant feats for the kingdom.

Both competent soldiers, they gained ground in holding off warring tribes and Otto was so able a ruler that he came to be known as Otto the Great. He was determined to establish a strong, centralized monarchy and began by giving the duchies of the kingdom to his relatives. He also granted fiefs to abbots and bishops as a means of securing their loyalty and support.

Setting his sights on Italy, a rich land, beset by unruly feudal disorder, Otto managed to take the Italian title by invading the area, helping the captured queen of the Lombards (who had been widowed), and marrying her in 951. His assistance to the papacy in warding off intruding nobles, the Byzantine Greeks and the Saracens, hastened his crowning as Emperor in 962.

Although this coronation was glorious in the eyes of the German monarchy, in the long term it was to cause problems for future rulers. They would tend to focus largely on Italian affairs, leaving German matters rather unheeded and unattended. This provided opportunity for German nobles to regain strength.

So, while Otto and his successors managed to expand the land they controlled, no headway was made regarding the unification of Germany.