Editing Gustav Heinemann (section)

==Postwar==
After the [[Second World War]], the British authorities appointed Heinemann mayor of Essen, and in 1946, he was elected to that office, which he kept until 1949. He was one of the founders of the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] in [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], in which he saw an interdenominational and democratic association of people opposed to Nazism. He was a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian parliament (''Landtag'', 1947–1950), and from 1947 to 1948, he was Minister of Justice in the North Rhine-Westphalian government of CDU Prime Minister [[Karl Arnold]].

When [[Konrad Adenauer]] became the first Chancellor of the newly founded [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] in 1949, he wanted a representative of the Protestants in the CDU in his government. Heinemann, the president of the Synod of Protestant Churches, reluctantly agreed to become the Minister of the Interior although he had planned to resume his career in industry.<ref>Lindemann (1986), p. 89</ref>

A year later, when it became known that Adenauer had secretly offered German participation in a Western European army, Heinemann resigned from the government. He was convinced that any form of armament in West Germany would diminish the chances of German reunification and increase the risk of war.<ref>Hans Prolingheuer: Kleine politische Kirchengeschichte. Cologne 1984, p. 123</ref>

Heinemann left the CDU, and in 1952 he founded his own political party, the [[All-German People's Party]] (''Gesamtdeutsche Volkspartei''). Among its members were such politicians as future Federal President [[Johannes Rau]] and also [[Erhard Eppler]]. They advocated negotiations with the Soviet Union with the aim of a reunited, neutral Germany between the blocs, but the GVP failed to attract many voters. Heinemann dissolved his party in 1957 and joined the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD), whose aims were relatively close to his own. There, he soon became a member of the party's National Executive. He helped the SPD to change into a ''Volkspartei'' (party of the people) by opening it up for socially-minded Protestants and middle-class people especially in the industrial districts of Germany.

In October 1950 Heinemann had started practising as a lawyer again. In court, he predominantly represented political and religious minorities. He also worked for the release of prisoners in [[East Germany]].<ref name="Koch 620-631"/> Later, he defended conscientious objectors to compulsory military service and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] in court. The latter refused to do even community work instead of military service because of their absolute conscientious objection.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fes.de/fulltext/historiker/00526.htm |title=Diether Posser: Erinnerungen an Gustav W. Heinemann, Bonn, 1999 |access-date=4 March 2010 |archive-date=25 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425070548/http://www.fes.de/fulltext/historiker/00526.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As an MP in the [[Bundestag]], the parliament of West Germany, Heinemann passionately fought against Adenauer's plans of acquiring atomic weapons for the West German army (''[[Bundeswehr]]'').

In the "Grand Coalition" government of Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU) and Foreign Minister Willy Brandt (SPD) Heinemann was Minister of Justice (1966–1969). He initiated a number of liberal reforms, especially in the field of criminal law.