Used as a noun, Frau is the German word for "woman." When it's used preceding a surname (or rank, or professional appellation like Doktor) it's an honorific.
In that era it was the quivalent of the English "Mrs." and Fräulein was still used for unmarried women (like the English "Miss"). Over the past 30-40 years it's become the standard to use Frau as the honorific for all women, particularly when addressing them in formal German, so now I guess the English equivalent would be "Ms." rather than "Mrs."
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