I recently exchanged some British pounds for euros and received a 50 euro note. In the UK, 50 pound notes are often not accepted by retailers because they are less common and easier to counterfeit. I'm wondering if the same applies to 50 euro notes and whether it would be better to request smaller denominations when exchanging currency.

Honestly 50s are fine here, the €50 is actually the most common note in circulation in Germany, way more than the €100 or €200. Small places like a Späti or a bakery kiosk might grumble if you try to pay for a 2 euro coffee with one, but any supermarket, drugstore or restaurant will take it without blinking. If you want to avoid teh awkwardness just break it at a bigger store first, or ask for 20s and 10s at the Wechselstube since those are handier for daily stuff anyway.

tbh its gotten better over the years. since the ECB stopped printing the 500 and the 200 is rare, the 50 is basically the workhorse note now. i've paid with 50s at Rewe, dm, even some Döner spots without issue. the only real friction is late at night when a kiosk has a thin till, they might ask if you have something smaller. if you're worried just spend it early on a bigger purchase and keep 20s for the small stuff.

The €50 is legal tender so refusing it is technically not allowed, though in practice a Dönerbude owner waving you off is not something you can really argue with. What catches people out is that some ticket machines and smaller kiosks only accept cards or exact change, so a 50 is useless there regardless. I'd still ask for 20s at the exchange, mainly because you'll want small notes for the BVG machines and market stalls, not because the 50 itself is suspect.

one thing nobody mentioned yet: germany has a €50 withdrawal limit at many ATMs for foreign cards so if u plan to pull cash just know ur bank might cap it lower. also the €50 is the workhorse note here, cashiers see dozens a day and most have a counterfeit pen under the till, so its not treated like the suspicious 50 pound note back home. only real friction is late night imbiss or a kiosk that just opened and has an empty till, so keep a couple 20s on u and ull be fine

Worth knowing that Germany's cash culture is regional even within Berlin. In Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte you'll find more card-only or card-preferred spots than you'd expect, while Neukölln and Wedding still run almost entirely on Bargeld. So a 50 will breeze through a Späti on Sonnenallee but might get a raised eyebrow at a specialty coffee place on Kastanienallee that barely keeps 200 euro in the drawer. My rule: carry one 50 for bigger purchases and keep 20s and 10s for everything under 15 euro, that combo never fails.