Vladimir V. Putin’s time as a Soviet intelligence agent in East Germany is largely shrouded in secrecy. He has claimed, for example, to have single-handedly dispersed protesters outside the K.G.B. office in Dresden in 1989, in the waning days of the Communist government.

Now, the German tabloid Bild’s publication of a photo ID card issued to a young Mr. Putin by the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police, pulls back the veil on one part of his tenure in Dresden, causing a ripple of excitement on social media and raising questions about his presence in the former German Democratic Republic.

The Putin ID card was also released on Wednesday by the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former East Germany. Printed on green passport-style paper, the card bears a black-and-white photo of a young intelligence officer identified as Major Putin, who would have been 33 at the time.