Despite being ~1% of the Russian Empire's population, Germans made up ~19% of its most influential political elites during the 19th century.

They were predominantly Baltic Germans, incorporated into the empire as a result of the Great Northern War (1700-1721).

A mere 80 years later, they made up 10% of the Committee of Ministers, the highest governing body in the empire. By the turn of the century, this figure had risen to 27%.

Nicholas I noted their loyalty, not to the state, but to the tsars themselves.

Source:
The Russian Committee of Ministers, 1802 to 1905: a prosopographical study (1972)
https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0101693