Oh, the UK’s industry was and still is impressive. But the German states were far, far, far behind in the 19th century. It’s just surprising that they could catch up at all.
It's not really that suprising. Industrialization originated in the UK, and emerged gradually from the economic and cultural situation there without any intentional design. When the Germans began industrializing, the UK's industry was mature and well-developed, which provided a very detailed practical example to reference.
19th-century Germany and Japan and modern China have all had the ability to work directly toward a goal, rather than having to wait for industrialization to emerge naturally from within their own economies (although if they had, it would probably have produced a set of customs and practices much more suited to their own cultures and economic conditions).
