Editing Johannes Rau (section)

==Private life==
Rau was known as a practising Christian (sometimes known as {{lang|de|Bruder Johannes}}, "Brother John", in ridicule of his intense Christian position.<ref name=":0" /> He held lay positions in and was a member of the [[Synod]] of the [[Evangelical Church in the Rhineland]], a member church of the [[Protestant Church in Germany]].

On 9 August 1982, Rau married the political scientist Christina Delius (born 1956). [[Christina Rau]] is a granddaughter of her husband's mentor, [[Gustav Heinemann]], former [[President of Germany]]. The couple had three children: Anna Christina, born 1983, Philip Immanuel, born 1985 and Laura Helene, born 1986.

On 18 August 2004, Rau had to undergo serious heart surgery, in which an [[artificial heart valve]] was inserted. Only two months later (19 October 2004), a [[hematoma]] in the [[abdominal cavity]] was surgically removed.

After leaving office, Rau lived with his family in the federal capital, [[Berlin]]. However, they also kept a house in [[Wuppertal]].