Stump the German

[Anita]

I searched for the composer who wrote the opera "The Merry Wives of Windsor. Surprise! It's German composer Otto Nicolai. Lincoln's secretary is related to Otto.

Lincoln's secretary is related to Otto. "Born John George Nicolay (or Johann Georg Nicolai), Essingen, near Landau, Bavaria, the youngest of five children born to John Jacob Nicolay (1788-1846) and Helena Müller Nicolay (d. ca. 1839). According to John G. Nicolay's daughter Helen, the family changed the spelling of its surname from "Nicolai" to "Nicolay" after moving to the United States. https://www.loc.gov/collections/john-g-n.../timeline/

The House of Nicolay in Germany

There were many notable members of the German branch of the House of Nicolay, including:
Philipp Nicolai – Lutheran pastor, poet, and composer
John George Nicolay (born Johann Georg Nicolai) – Private Secretary to United States President Abraham Lincoln.[16]
Otto Nicolai – conductor, composer and founder of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolay_family