Kohler enjoyed a lengthy career at the highest level with exactly 500 top flight league matches,[2] playing primarily as a centre back in the German Bundesliga, and in the Italian Serie A, achieving notable success both at domestic and international level with FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus.

In a reversal of Kohler's previous continental final victory, Dortmund defeated his former club Juventus to become European Champions for the first time.

[4] Regarded by pundits as one of the best defenders of his generation (even being dubbed the best stopper in the world by Maurizio Crosetti e Licia Granello of La Repubblica in 1992), Kohler was a complete and physically strong centre-back, who was famed for his defensive perception, anticipation, quick reactions, and marking, as well as his tactical sense; he was also known for his prowess in the air, courtesy of his height, timing, heading accuracy, and elevation, which also made him a goal threat during set-pieces.

Although primarily a powerful and hard-tackling but fair stopper (man-marking centre-back), he was also known for his composure and finesse when in possession, and his ability to play the ball out of defence, which he was able to improve as his career progressed, in particular during his time in Italy, where he showed significant technical developments, after initially being pejoratively nicknamed "Eisenfuss" ("iron foot," in German) in his home-country.

[6][8] After his playing career was over, he has managed the German under-21 side, and became sports director of Bayer Leverkusen on 31 March 2003, quitting this post on 29 June 2004.

[citation needed] After his retirement from professional sports, Kohler occasionally played for Alemannia Adendorf in the Kreisliga C (the 11th tier of German club football).