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 Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

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 Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

for the

Welser Welser was a German banking and merchant family, originally a patrician family based in Augsburg and Nuremberg, that rose to great prominence in international high finance in the 16th century as bankers to the Habsburgs and financiers of Cha ...

banking family when they began planning for the

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

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. In August 1529 Ehinger made his first expedition to

Lake Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...

, which was bitterly opposed by the indigenous people, the Coquivacoa. After winning a series of bloody battles, he founded the settlement at

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

on September 8, 1529. Ehinger named the city Neu Nürnberg (New Nuremberg) and the lake after the valiant ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

'' Mara of the Coquivacoa, who had died in the fighting. The city was renamed Maracaibo after the Spanish took possession. Ehinger came down with malaria and decided to recuperate in the relatively civilized comforts of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, so he handed temporary authority over to Federmann on July 30, 1530. Upon his return, Ehinger, with 40 horse and 130-foot soldiers and an innumerable number of allied indigenous fighters, set off from Coro on September 1, 1531, on his second expedition to the alleged gold country to the west. They crossed the Oca mountains, came over to

Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Cesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. The ...

, along the Cesar River, and finally to the Zapatosa marsh. There the expedition rested about three months, then continued south, where they met fierce resistance from the indigenous tribes. They turned east, along the Lebrija River. During this expedition they were forced to eat their horses and dogs, and lost most of their indigenous allies, many dying from the cold as they crossed the mountains. As they made their way home, they were attacked by the Chitareros on May 27, 1533. Ehinger and Captain Esteban Martín fled into a low-lying ravine, where they were pinned down by Indians shooting arrows. Ehinger received a poisoned arrow in the neck. Despite the attentions of Augustine's father Vicente de Requejada, Ehinger died on May 31, 1533, and was buried under a tree. The expedition returned without him to Coro. In the framework of the Celebration of the 492 years of the founding of

, the funeral remains and cenotaphs of Ambrosio Alfinger, which were in the municipality of Chinácota, department of the north of Santander of the Republic of Colombia and were transferred to be buried at El Cuadrado Grafen von Luxburg Fursten zu Carolath-Beuthen und Prinzen von Schoenaich-Carolath Cemetery, the short name El Cuadrado Luxburg-Carolath in Maracaibo, Zulia State of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The transfer was executed under the name of "OUR DECEASED LIVE-AMBROCIO ALFINGER". This project was carried out jointly by the Colombian Catholic Church and the Grafen von Luxburg Fursten zu Carolath-Beuthen und Prinzen von Schoenaich-Carolath Foundation. During the celebration of the Ecclesiastical Act in memory of the souls of those who died during the conquest and colonization of the American continent, as an act of reconciliation between the native natives and the Europeans, the mass was held for the first time in history in the Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, and later the funeral and cenotaphic ecclesiastical relics of Ambrosio Alfinger were taken to their resting place in El Cuadrado Luxburg-Carolath Cemetery. The corresponding funeral protocols were carried out according to the regulations in the Bolívar prefecture of the city of Maracaibo.

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