Welser family

German banking and merchant family

The Welser family was a noble German family of bankers and merchants active between the 14th and 19th centuries. Originally patricians based in Augsburg and Nuremberg, its members rose to great prominence in international high finance in the 16th century as bankers to the Habsburgs and financiers of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Along with the Fugger family, the Welser family controlled large sectors of the European economy, and accumulated enormous wealth through trade and the German colonization of the Americas, including the slave trade.

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA. More on occurri.