At the 2006 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Hein swept the two spots for Germany, as he placed second behind Thomas Lurz by a single second margin in the men's 5 km open water race, clocking at 56:01.1. He also picked up a bronze medal in the 10 km race, but finished behind Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands by approximately three seconds, in a time of 1:58:16.6.