At the dawn of crystal structure analysis, the close personal contact between researchers in Russia and Germany, well documented in the “Zeitschrift für Krystallographie und Mineralogie”, contributed significantly to the evolution of our present knowledge of the crystalline state. The impact of the Russian crystallographer E. S. Fedorov upon German scientists such as A. Schoenflies and P. Groth and the effect of these contacts for Fedorov are highlighted hundred years after the death of the latter. A creative exchange of ideas paved the way for the analysis of crystal structures with the aid of X-ray diffraction.