Immanuel: Weaponsmith Who Warmed Russia First

“Ludwig’s father before him pioneered development of underwater mines, designed some of the first steam engines to power Russian ships, and installed the first central heating systems to warm Russian homes. Ludwig’s son after him launched the world’s first diesel-driven tugs and tankers while bargaining with the Rothschilds, struggling against Royal Dutch-Shell, and bartering with Standard Oil in Europe’s second Thirty Years War, a petroleum war for control of world markets.”

“During their eighty years in Russia the Nobels and their band of Scandinavian expatriates were industrial miracle makers in a primitive land. They built armament factories in the wilds of northern Russia, expanded a small St. Petersburg machine shop and foundry into one of the largest enterprises in the country, developed and marketed the Nobel wheel—the Michelin of its time—devised new tools and procedures for assembly-line production, exhibiting in all their undertakings an active and continuing concern for their workers’ welfare—as unique a concern in Russia at the time as it was in the rest of the world.”