Ulrich von Coler was an Oberleutnant in the Imperial German Army during World War One and an Oberst in the Finnish White Guard and Wehrmacht Heer in World War II.
During the Finnish Civil War, he was one of 38 German officers in Finland and commanded the 2nd Jaeger Brigade Itäarmeija in Hanko.
In 1919, Coler wrote a book called "Suomalaisten jääkärien parissa: muistelmia yhteistyön ajoilta 1915–1918" (With the Finnish Jägers 1915–1918), a curriculum vitae of his time in Finland during the First World War.During the Second World War, he was assigned command of a Feldgendarmerie unit, Feldkommandantur 810 (FK 810), and oversaw and perpetrated war crimes in Poland and the Crimea.