The answer they gave us to the first question was wrong, and they didn't know the answer to the second two. One of the great things about Dresden was the lack of tourists. There are relatively few and most are German. The down side of this, is that we had planned on a few tourist services we had grown to expect - no internet cafe, no AMEX office. No worry about exchange rates or commissions or opening hours.
ATMs are everywhere in eastern Europe.
However, our ATM cards had expired. We could get cash advances from VISA but this is very costly in the long run. We had a short debate and decided to get a hotel room. Accommodation has at times made a big difference in how we feel about a city. A bad night's sleep can really turn you against a place.