Klein-Venedig Klein-Venedig ("Little Venice"; also the etymology of the name "Venezuela") was the most significant part of the German colonization of the Americas between 1528 and 1546. The
Augsburg-based
Welser banking family (bankers to the
Habsburgs) was given the colonial rights to the land by
Emperor Charles V, who owed them debts for his
imperial election as
Holy Roman Emperor. In 1528, Charles V issued a charter by which the Welsers possessed the rights to explore, rule and colonize the area with the primary motivation of searching for the legendary golden city of
El Dorado. The venture was initially led by
Ambrosius Ehinger, who founded
Maracaibo in 1529. After the deaths of first Ehinger (1533),
Nikolaus Federmann,
Georg von Speyer (1540),
Philipp von Hutten continued exploration in the interior. In the absence of Hutten from the capital of the province, the crown of Spain claimed the right to appoint the governor. The Spanish
Juan de Carvajal was nominated governor by the Emperor Charles V and tried to take control of the province. In 1545 he founded
El Tocuyo with German colonists of Coro. On Hutten's return to the capital,
Santa Ana de Coro, in 1546, governor Carvajal had Hutten and
Bartholomeus VI. Welser executed over the duo's refusal to relinquish control of the colony. The act was deemed an illegal execution, and Spanish crown forces tried and executed Carvajal for the crime. Subsequently, Charles V revoked Welser's charter. The Welsers transported German miners to the colony, as well as 4,000 African slaves as labour to work sugar cane plantations. Many of the German colonists died from tropical diseases, to which they had no immunity, or during frequent wars with
Native Americans.
Brandenburg-Prussia The
Brandenburgisch-Africanische Compagnie of
Brandenburg (the future
Kingdom of Prussia) established trading posts in Africa and leased a trading post on
St. Thomas from the
Danish West India-Guinea Company in 1685. In 1693, the Danes seized the post, its warehouse, and all its goods without warning or repayment. There were no permanent German settlers.
Duchy of Courland The
Duchy of Courland, a German-led vassal state of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, leased
New Courland (
Neu-Kurland) on
Tobago in the Caribbean from the English. The colony failed and was restored several times. A final Courish attempt to establish a Caribbean colony involved a settlement near modern
Toco on
Trinidad.
County of Hanau The counties of
Hanau-Lichtenberg and
Hanau-Münzenberg, under
Frederick Casimir and his adviser
Johann Becher, funded but did not complete an extravagant program to lease
Guiana from the
Dutch West India Company. Calling his new realm the
Hanauish-Indies (
Hanauisch-Indien), Frederick Casimir ran up huge debts that ultimately forced him into a regency by some of his relatives. ==See also==