Location
Klein-Venedig was a German colony in South America which existed from 1528 to 1556, with Neu-Augsburg (Santa Ana de Coro) serving as its capital. The Welser banking family of Ulm, Bavaria obtained colonial rights in Venezuela from Emperor Charles V in exchange for their forgiveness of his debts, and the Welsers sent Ambrosius Ehinger with 281 colonists to establish a colony in Venezuela. The Germans established a colony at Neu-Nuremberg (Maracaibo) after slaying the local Native American chief Mara in battle, but Ehinger was killed in battle with the Indians while leading an expedition to search for the legendary city of El Dorado in 1533, and his successor Georg von Speyer died of illness in 1540. Philipp von Hutten became the colony's new governor, but his expedition to the country's interior in 1546 failed, and the Spanish sent Juan de Carvajal to maintain order in Venezuela. Carvajal disliked the returning German adventurers and attempted to force them to swear allegiance to him; when they refused, he failed in his attempt to seize them, resulting in violence. In April 1546, Carvajal ambushed the German partyand captured Hutten and his subordinate Bartholomeus VI Welser and had them beheaded. Charles V's abdication in 1556 ended the Welser family's attempt to re-assert their concession by legal means.