Chinácota in the context of Norte de Santander

Villa del Rosario is a Colombian municipality and city located in the eastern part of North Santander department. It is part of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The municipality is bordered to the north by Venezuela and the municipality of Cúcuta, to the south by the municipalities of Ragonvalia and Chinácota, to the east by Venezuela and to the west by the municipality of Los Patios.

Ambrosius Ehinger, also (Ambrosio Alfínger in Spanish) Dalfinger, Thalfinger, (ca. 1500 in Thalfingen near Ulm – 31 May 1533 near Chinácota in modern-day Colombia) was a German conquistador and the first governor of the Welser concession, also known as “Little Venice” (Klein-Venedig), in northern South America, now Venezuela.

Ehinger was a factor in Madrid for the Welser banking family when they began planning for the colonization of Klein-Venedig. The Welsers appointed him as the first governor, and sent as his deputy the Spaniard Luis González de Leyva. They arrived in Coro in 1529 with 281 colonists and called the new colony “Little Venice” (Klein-Venedig). Almost immediately Ehinger replaced González de Leyva with Nicolaus Federmann.