German colonization of the Americas
The German colonization of the Americas consisted of a 16th
century attempt to settle Venezuela.
The Augsburg banking families of Anton and Bartholomeus Welser obtained
the rights to Venezuela from Charles V,
Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain, in 1528. These rights were negotiated by Heinrich Ehinger und Hieronymus Sailer, either independently or as agents of the Welsers. However, by 1531, the Welsers certainly
controlled the privilege. A colonization scheme was set up, with Ambrosius Ehinger arriving as governor in 1529. He explored the interior in search of
the gold of El Dorado. Ehinger had left Seville on October 7, 1528
with the Spaniard García de
Lerma and 281 settlers. At Santo Domingo, de Lerma with 50 companions left for his mission to Santa Marta, to reestablish
Spanish control following the murder of the governor there. Ambrosius Ehinger and the remainder headed for the Venezuelan coast
and landed February 24, 1529 at Coro.
Other German governors followed: Nikolaus Federmann, Georg Hohermuth
von Speyer, Philipp von Hutten, who also engaged primarily
in the search for gold. Federmann traveled over the Andes to Bogotá, where he and Sebastián de
Belalcázar initially contested Jiménez de Quesada's claims to that province. German miners were brought over, as well as 4000 African
slaves to work sugar plantations. By 1541 disputes had arisen with Spain, and the bankers were stripped of control of the colony
in 1556.
Many of the German colonists died from tropical diseases or hostile Indian attacks during frequent journeys deep into Indian
territory in search of gold.
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