Home and Neighbors
The tour starts at 101 Radeberger Straße in Dresden. Here, on the third floor of the panel house, Putin lived in a two-room apartment with his wife and kids.
In September 1985, at the age of 32, the young KGB major was deployed to Dresden. A year later, his wife and his eldest daughter Maria joined him in Germany.
His younger daughter, Ekaterina, was born in Dresden, recalls Putin's then-neighbor Renate, who lived on the same street.
"This was a perfectly normal family. They often spent time at the playground. At that time, it was commonplace for everyone and most of the people's personal lives unfolded there. They attended family events, had barbecues. But apart from that, Putin distanced himself. No one actually knew what his private life was like," the woman told Sputnik.
Stasi (GDR's Ministry for State Security)
On Bautzener Straße five minutes away from the house where Putin lived with his family there is building that served as one of the departments of GDR's Ministry for State Security (Stasi).
A joint photo of KGB and Stasi employees which can be seen in one of the building's halls shows Putin among his colleagues (second left).
Service in the KGB (Committee for State Security of the Soviet Union)
Apart from that, Putin worked in the building at 4 Angelikastraße which served as a KGB office.
In December 1989, when thousands of protesters approached the building demanding the dismissal of the KGB, Vladimir Putin was one of those who talked to the angry crowd, Sputnik Germany writes.
Some eyewitnesses say that Putin and his colleagues warned the crowd against entering the building. The crowd retreated, but the KGB unit in Dresden was still disbanded.
Free Time After Work
After work, Putin was often seen in the restaurant "Am Thor" on Albertplatz. At that time, it was called Platz der Einheit. In this restaurant, located on the main street, one can taste Saxon cuisine and local beers even now.
The Russian president is said to have been a welcome guest there. A former waiter, who worked in the restaurant for more than 12 years, recalled that Putin liked drinking "Radeberger" beer.
When in 1999 Putin appeared on German television for the first time, he was recognized by a regular visitor of the restaurant named Gärtner.
"This is that Russian who used to be here before!" he shouted to other guests.
We don't know whether the Russian president remembers all these people. But in any case, according to Sputnik Germany, Dresden residents wish him all the best on his 65th anniversary: "health", "stability for Russia", and that "the sun always shines."
