Günther Jauch über Gottschalks Rückzug und Krebserkrankung

What does “Glückskind” mean in German?

Jauch calls Gottschalk “das ewige Glückskind des deutschen Fernsehens” — the eternal Glückskind of German TV. A Glückskind is a person for whom things just keep going right, as if they were born lucky. He uses it with real fondness, but it also makes the news hit harder: he then says that even this charmed man has now been struck by cancer. So the warm word sets up a painful turn.

Spoken in the clip: “das ewige Glückskind des deutschen Fernsehens” — “the eternal lucky child of German TV.” Glück means luck or happiness, and Kind means child, so a Glückskind is someone who seems born lucky. Examples: “Sie ist ein echtes Glückskind, bei ihr klappt alles.” (She’s a real Glückskind; everything works out for her.) “Als Glückskind hatte er nie Geldsorgen.” (As a Glückskind he never worried about money.) It is usually warm or a little envious, not an insult. Here it makes the sad turn land harder.