Chip and pin in Germany?

Yes you will.

A lot of merchants in Germany (big and small) don't accept any credit cards, be it chip or magnetic strip, so have cash on hand.

Hi,

You can get along just fine in Germany without a chip and pin card. Paying with an US magnetic strip credit card at train station DB ticket machines is fine , unlike in Holland and France, at staffed ticket counters, shops, restaurants and hotels...all fine provided they take credit cards in the first place.

No problems with regular magnetic strip cards for purchases last September in Bavaria and the Mosel Valley. I did have an issue with a couple of bank ATMs not allowing me to withdraw cash from my checking account. I was starting to think I had an issue with my bank since this was my second ATM visit, but I finally found a third bank that worked. I believe that was in Mannheim.

I'm a big credit card user for rewards, but at home and abroad, I think it is most kind to use cash for small purchases at family-owned businesses.

I, also, had no problem in Bavaria last September.

I normally pay for everything in cash that I get from ATMs. I've never had a problem with my strip card at an ATM. In the past I have averaged only one credit card usage per trip, usually at a Bahn ticket automat, but on my last trip my girl friend did some shopping and my strip card (Visa) work fine for that.

The German Rail website has a tutorial for using it's ticket automats, including showing how to insert your strip credit card in the slot (strip down and to right).

easier to use cash most places. Sort out which banks to use the ATM before you leave. Keep a small amount of cash in a little purse and keep the rest buried deep. If you loose the small amount you just keep going. I'm not a fan of flashing credit cards etc

We were unable to use an inserted American swipe-card in the machines in unattended rail stations along the Rhine river in 2011. I think those machines take cash, but it was hard to come up with acceptable bills in denominations the machine could accept or make change with, AFAIR.

More surprisingly, the major, international-destination, German garden show of the year, BUGA, in Koblenz, with brand-new Point-of-Sale termnals in a host of temporary tents, was unable to process our swipe cards. We had to go to an ATM and get cash for the pricey tickets.

We never had any trouble with hotels, or with the larger restaurants that accepted credit cards. As always in Europe, the restaurants have wireless terminals that, unlike the U.S., permit your card to remain within your view (i.e. safe from double-swipes) for the entire transaction.