Ldear reader, worked for five years Vladimir Putin as a KGB officer in Dresden. Stasi documents from this period reveal more about the Russian president than he would like. Hubertus Knabe was director of the Hohenschönhausen Memorial and works on the University of Würzburg’s “After the Dictatorship” project. He worked his way through the Stasi documents about Putin – and wrote an exciting guest article for us. Then a phase in Putin’s life that had a lasting impact on him, is much better documented than any other: his activity as an officer in the 1st Main Department of the Soviet Committee for State Security (KGB) in Dresden. This is where the Soviet foreign espionage agency sent the then 33-year-old agent in 1985 for his first foreign assignment after graduating from the KGB University in Moscow. And here he experienced five years later, like that seemingly unshakable SED dictatorship was brought.
The documents on Putin’s apprenticeship in the GDR are now stored in the Dresden branch of the Federal Archives. They come from the stocks of the local district administration of the Ministry for State Security (MfS). This worked closely with the “friends” – as the Stasi called the KGB internally. The archive has published around 500 sheets of documents, as well as dozens of mostly unpublished photographs. Although only some of the documents come directly from the KGB, they give a deep insight into the activities of the Russian President at the time. The surprising thing about reading it is how far its consequences reach into the present.
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Which investments protect against inflation? For many years, which were happy in hindsight, the Germans asked themselves this question more in theory than in practice. Because the inflation rates in Germany were surprisingly low in the first twenty years of the new millennium, inflation only very rarely exceeded the value of two percent – until supply bottlenecks, the Russian attack on Ukraine and also a long wait and see attitude of the central banks caused inflation in Germany up to a value of currently ten percent. Now the old question suddenly arises with unprecedented urgency: Which investments protect against inflation? Dennis Kremer from our business editorial team examined various asset classes. His somewhat sobering conclusion: The most suitable are Equities, with restrictions also real estate. However, listed companies must have two characteristics in order to help against inflation. First, they must be able to pass the increased prices on to their customers. And secondly, they shouldn’t mind too much that their financing costs also rise when the central banks raise interest rates. Not every stock corporation can do that, but Kremer has found a few examples.
Jürgen Gießing heads the Institute for Sports Science at the University of Koblenz-Landau. He’s over with Stefanie Sippel weight training spoken, but especially about the fact that it important and healthy even in old age is. Gießing explains what is important, warns of the most common mistakes and reveals why regular training even reduces the risk of cancer: “I have noticed that people find a new approach to muscle training as they get older. Many start because of their muscle wasting. It’s a bit late, but welcome nonetheless. As we age, we benefit much more from it. Because we can eliminate the problems caused by muscle wasting. That’s so important. If you think about how many people can no longer live alone. Not because they are demented, but because they can no longer take care of themselves – because they no longer have any strength. Not being able to get out of the armchair or carry their groceries to the third floor. And then have to go to a retirement home.”
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Many greetings,
Yours, Carsten Knop
editor
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
