Heinze, son to a railwayman,[1] was born in Mulda and raised in Dresden where he attended Volksschule and Oberschule.

[2] In 1950 Heinze began his studies at Dresden Academy of Fine Arts under Erich Fraaß und Walter Arnold.

In 1957 he created the animal sculpture Sitzender Hund (Sitting Dog) for the city of Hoyerswerda, one of Heinze's many contributions to public art.

Together with Wilhelm Landgraf he created the group sculpture Ballspieler (alternative title: Studenten beim Sport in 1971)[5] that was placed in front of Dresden University of Technology's student residences at Wundstraße.

Until 2012 Heinze worked on his sculpture Chor der Überlebenden (Choir of Survivors) for Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden.

[7][8] Heinze was working on a design for a memorial for the victims of the Bombing of Dresden in World War II since the 1960s.

[12] In his earlier career Heinze was influenced by Gerhard Marcks, whose Cologne studio he visited in 1956.

[13] Later on Heinze was inspired by the gothic sculptures of Wilhelm Lehmbruck with their long and thin bodies.