Koehler, who came from a family of merchants, grew up in Berlin. In 1876, Koehler founded the
Mechanische Werkstätten (lit. 'Mechanical Workshops'). The company, located in Berlin-
Kreuzberg, was internationally successful and allowed Koehler to amass a substantial fortune. Beside his businesswork Koehler became an art collector. In the 1900s, Koehler came into contact with German painters in Munich such as
August Macke or
Franz Marc via his niece
Elisabeth Gerhardt, who in 1909 eventually married Macke. He became a patron of Macke and gave him 300 Franc for a journey to Paris. Since 1910, Koehler also gave 200 Mark each month to Franz Marc, who was rather poor. In return for his financial aid he received several paintings from both Macke and Marc. In 1911, Koehler came into contact with artists of
Neue Künstlervereinigung München. He was a financier of the
almanach by
Der Blaue Reiter in
Munich and in 1913 of the
Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon in Berlin, which was organized by
Herwarth Walden, August Macke and Franz Marc. In 1914, he gave financial help to Franz Marc for his journey to
Tunis. During his lifetime, Koehler's art collection was located in his family home in Berlin. In 1927, Koehler died and was buried in Berlin-
Neukölln. His son Bernhard Koehler (1882–1964) became owner of the art collection. He sold some paintings at the end of the 1920s and some paintings got lost during World War II, as the factory and the family home got destroyed. Some of the more important paintings, however, were given to the
Nationalgalerie during the war and came to
Russia at the end of the War due to
art theft. Some other paintings of Koehlers art collections are located in the
Städtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich today. == Art collection from Bernhard Koehler ==