Sieger,
He was made 'Kommerzienrat' following the success of the Turkish rifle contract in 1887. This was followed by the title 'Geheimer Kommerzienrat' in 1908. As part of his 60th worker's anniversary, the King granted him the Honorary Cross of the Order of the Wurttemberger Crown, and this decoration came with a nobility title as a bonus. So from 1908 onwards, he was 'Paul von Mauser'. He became an honorary doctor of the Technical High School of Stuttgart in 1912.
He even had a seat in the German Reichstag from 1898 until 1903, was member of the Oberndorf town council in 1891 and became honorary citizen of Oberndorf in 1902.
(A Kommerzienrat can best be translated as Councillor of Commerce, a title that show the bearer to be an expert in his field and thus can be consulted by the government in affairs that touch his field of expertise. The follow-up title Geheimer Kommerzienrat takes it a step further and identifies the bearer as one who has direct access to the royal court).
So Kornmayer's reference to Paul Mauser as Dr. Ing. Paul von Mauser is correct, but Paul Mauser was neither in 1892, when the letter was written. His correct title in 1892 was Herr Kommerzienrat Paul Mauser.
ps: This 1892 letter was not written to Wilhelm Mauser, but to Paul Mauser. Luger writing a letter to Wilhelm would be a bit strange, as Wilhelm had kicked the bucket in 1882 and was already dead for 10 years in 1892, by the time the letter was written... Also, the letter opens with a reference to 'Herrn Commerzienrath', the title that Paul held at the time of writing.
Kornmayer's reference to 'Kommerzienrat Wilhelm Mauser' is probably just a slip of the pen, as far as I know Wilhelm never had that title and it's more likely that these documents originate from Paul Mauser's family.
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