His father Johann Georg August Ernst von der Nonne (1798-1860) was a German nobleman originally from the city of Bodenwerder, Lower Saxony.

[1] Nikolaus was educated in the First Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, after which on June 11, 1855 he was promoted to officer and assigned to the 6th Sapper Battalion, which at that time participated in Crimean War and the siege of Sevastopol.

On January 18, 1884 he was elected chairman of the Baku branch of the Russian Technical Society (IRTS).

He was dismissed from service for domestic reasons with a uniform and a pension by the Imperial Order on November 18, 1884.

[5] He became mayor of the Baku with majority voting of city duma and approved by Prince Grigory Golitsyn in October 1898, started his official term on November 4, 1898.

He was married to ethnic Tbilisi Armenian Maria Pavlovna von der Nonne (née Bashinjaghov) and had two issues: He also had several brothers and sister, namely Alexander (b.