The Petersburg Dialogue was launched in 2001 by the then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Russian President Vladimir Putin as a discussion forum to promote understanding between the civil societies of Germany and Russia. The name goes back to the first venue, St. Petersburg in Russia.

Every year, top politicians and senior officials from both countries meet at summits prepared by the working groups Politics, Economy, Civil Society, Culture, Media, Future Workshop, Churches in Europe as well as Education, Science and Healthcare.

The Steering Committee of the Petersburg Dialogue met in Wiesbaden on 2 June to organize the 2006 summit. Under the chairmanship of former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and the only freely elected Prime Minister of the GDR, Lothar de Maizière, the two delegations planned the meeting in Dresden.

In the evening, Lord Mayor Diehl invited his distinguished guests to a dinner in the ballroom of the town hall. He took the opportunity to thank both politicians for their contribution to German unity. Gorbachev was quite modest and emphasized that the tradition of Russian visits to Wiesbaden had lasted far longer than recent German history.

He then signed the city's Golden Book with the Russian delegation and de Maizière signed it with the German delegation.