timelets

It turns out that Ursula von der Leyen, the new President of EU, is a descendant of Ludwig Knopp, "a cotton merchant and entrepreneur from the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, who became one of the richest entrepreneurs in his time. He was created a Baron by Alexander II of Russia."

Why and how he became successful is even more remarkable:

In 1842, the British ban on the export of cotton machinery, imposed in 1775 to protect the country's head start in technology, was lifted, allowing the manufacture of cotton to expand in Russia. Knoop used English credit to build and fit out mills with English equipment. The commissioning in 1847 of Morozov's Nikolsk mill at Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Knoop's sixth, was seen as a landmark in the industry's development in Russia.

...he relied exclusively on English machinery and also supplied the factories with English managers, technicians, and supervisors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Knoop

""The whole place is a bit of England on Russian ground."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krenholm_Manufacturing_Company

In the 19th century, German diaspora was a major source of industrial transformation of the world. Long-term, it worked out extremely well for the US and did not for Russia.