As of 2014, 96.2% of all known bearers of the surname Köhler were residents of Germany and 1.5% of Austria. In Germany, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following states:
Alban Köhler, German radiologist. Born in Petsa, he discovered a rare foot disorder found in children which was named Köhler disease in his honour. He died in Niederselters
August Köhler, microscopist and inventor of the Köhler illumination
Axel Köhler, German countertenor and opera director. In 1994, he won the Handel Prize. Since 2009, he has been Artistic Director of the Halle Opera House
Franz Köhler, Austrian football manager and former player. He managed the Icelandic national team from 1953 to 1954
Frauke Köhler, German State attorney
Georg Köhler, German international footballer
Georges J. F. Köhler, biologist and 1984 Nobel laureate in Medicine
Gundolf Köhler, right-wing extremist
Heinrich Köhler, German politician who served as the fifth and eighth State President of Baden and the eleventh Minister of Finance in the Weimar Republic
Hermann Köhler, former sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. He represented West Germany and competed for the club TV Wattenscheid
Hilding Köhler, professor of Meteorology at the University of Uppsala in Uppsala, Sweden who performed groundbreaking research in cloud physics
Jörn Köhler, German Herpetologist. His main research focus is on tropical amphibians and reptiles, mainly in South America and Africa. He works for the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt and published in a number of scientific magazines
Jürgen Köhler, former East German slalom canoeist who competed in the 1960s and 1970s. He won three medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with a gold, a silver and a bronze
Koos Köhler, Dutch water polo player. He competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics, where the Dutch team shared fifth place. Köhler played all three matches, together with his cousin Sjaak, and scored seven goals
Kristina Schröder, German politician
Louis Köhler, German composer
Manuel Köhler, Austrian slalom canoer who competed from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. He won a bronze medal in the K-1 team event at the 1996 European Championships in Augsburg
Maria João Köhler, Portuguese tennis player
Michael Köhler, East German luger who competed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won two medals in the men's doubles event at the FIL World Luge Championships with a silver in 1970 and a bronze in 1969
René Köhler, a non-existent conductor invented by William Barrington-Coupe as part of a fraud in which he passed off numerous plagiarised recordings of classical pianists as the work of his wife, Joyce Hatto
Rolf Köhler, German singer, musician and record producer
Siegfried Köhler
*Siegfried Köhler , German conductor, composer and academic teacher
*Siegfried Köhler , German cyclist
Sven Köhler, former German footballer who currently manages Chemnitzer FC
Sven Köhler, German footballer
Thomas Köhler, East German former luger who competed during the 1960s
Ulrich Köhler, German archaeologist
Walter Köhler, Minister President of Baden, Germany during the Nazi regime
