Most payment in Germany still is done via coins and notes.
Preferred plastic money here are so-called EC-cards, which you get with no additional fees (neither for the service nor per transaction) with your banking account. Often, stores have a minimum of 5 or 10 euros before you can pay with cards. That is due to transaction costs shops have to pay per transaction.
Euro-Checks have been sorted out many years ago. Travellers checkes mostly do not get accepted, and if so, in a store, it always means plenty of special activity by the salesmen, and calling superiors, and asking how the form is going to be filled. Better don't try! But almost nobody tries anyway.
Visa and Master are in use, too, but do not share that much acceptance as EC-cards, although they are not rare. Interestingly, especially huge shops, huge department stores, huge chain stores do not accept them. Charges that have to be payed per transaction are much higher than for EC-card, and the owner of the card in the end has to pay more, too. I consider using these cards to be stupid. you get ripped of - for being allowed to pay somebody else. Well, that you can have for free, can't you. I have mine only for rare occasions I need Visa for internet payments (which I avoid as much as possible). Considering the high yearly fee and the rare occasions i need it, my behavior of keeping that damn thing is very stupid, too.
In the past, I had worked in a department store for some years. I often chuckled when dealing with foreign tourists being upset when they payed with Visa or Matser, and I wanted their ID-card as well - to compare signatures. security awareness is something that is rudimentary in other countries, it seems.
dutch topurists (plenty we have) were bewildered, British and Americans often became angry. Must be genetic
There were also people, almost always, complaining about the use of cards when standing in line, becasue it is much more time consuming than paying with coins and notes, even without tehcnical problems in the line, and people not remembering their PINs.
Personally, I prefer coins and notes, for the reaosns mentioned above, and for comparable reasons why I prefer a manual espresso machine to a full automat, and an analogue watch to a digital one:
it's more pleasing.