a teacher proposed that the refugee boy should apply for the gymnasium. köhler took his "abitur" in 1963. after a two-year military service at a panzergrenadier battalion in ellwangen, he left the bundeswehr as reserve officer. he studied and finally earned a doctorate in economics and political sciences from university of tübingen. there, he was a scientific research assistant at the institute for applied economic research from 1969 to 1976.