Germany the state - indeed, but German as a culture/language/nationality(in the contemporary definition) was definitely there.
Same with Italy, which wasn't a single state until the mid XIX century. Over to the east states lost independence and remained so for hundreds of years, only to re-emerge in the XX century.
My point is that state as an entity doesn't fully define one's identity.
Everything was a bit complicated in that region in the medieval period. In the C16, you immediately come up short with the concept of "Germany".