#klein-venedig

Fictional flag of klein-venedig (little Venice a.k.a Venezuela)

Klein-Venedig (Little Venice) was the most significant territory of the German colonization of the Americas, from 1528 to 1546, in which the Welser banking family of the Free Imperial City of Augsburg obtained colonial rights in the Province of Venezuela in return for debts owed by Charles I of Spain (counted Charles V as Emperor). The primary motivation was the search for the legendary golden city of El Dorado. The venture was led at first by Ambrosius Ehinger, who founded Maracaibo in 1529. After the deaths of Ehinger (1533) and then his successor Georg von Speyer (1540), Philipp von Hutten continued exploration in the interior, and in his absence from the capital of the province the crown of Spain claimed the right to appoint the governor. On Hutten's return to the capital, Santa Ana de Coro, in 1546, the Spanish governor Juan de Carvajal had von Hutten and Bartholomeus VI. Welser executed. King Charles I revoked Welser's charter.

Welser transported to the colony German miners, and 4,000 African slaves as labor to work sugar cane plantations. Many of the German colonists died from tropical diseases, to which they had no immunity, or hostile Indian attacks during frequent journeys deep into Indian territory in search of gold.