Editing History of Germany (section)

===Colonies===
German Colonies in the Americas existed because the [[Free Imperial Cities]] of [[Augsburg]] and [[Free Imperial City of Nuremberg|Nuremberg]] got colonial rights in the [[Venezuela Province|Province of Venezuela]] or North of South America in return for debts owed by the [[Holy Roman Empire]] [[Emperor Charles V|Charles V]], who was also King of Spain. In 1528, Charles V issued a charter by which the [[Welser family]] possessed the rights to explore, rule and colonize the area, also with the motivation of searching for the legendary golden city of [[El Dorado]]. Their principal colony was [[Klein-Venedig]]. A never realized colonial project was [[Hanauish-Indies]] intended by [[Friedrich Casimir, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg]] as a fief of the [[Dutch West India Company]]. The project failed due to a lack of funds and the outbreak of the [[Franco-Dutch War]] in 1672.