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Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel

The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS) served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the Wehrmacht (the German armed forces from 1935), the German state, and the Nazi Party.

Uniform design and function
While different uniforms existed for the SS over time, the all-black SS uniform adopted in 1932 is the most well known. The black–white–red colour scheme was characteristic of the German Empire, and it was later adopted by the Nazi Party. Further, black was popular with fascist movements: a black uniform was introduced by the blackshirts in Italy before the creation of the SS. There was a traditional reason, too: just as the Prussian kings' and emperors' life-guard cavalry (Leibhusaren) had worn black uniforms with skull-and-crossbones badges, so would the Führer's bodyguard unit. These SS uniforms were tailored to project authority and foster fear. During the war, the German clothing factory that eventually became the international menswear powerhouse Hugo Boss produced thousands of SS and other uniforms.

Once the war began, the black uniform was seldom worn. The combat units of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the later Waffen-SS wore a variation of the field-grey (grey-green) (feldgrau) army uniform with SS insignia. The majority of SS personnel wore a variation of the Waffen-SS uniform or the grey-green SS service tunic. Branches with personnel that normally would wear civilian attire in the Reich (such as the Gestapo and Kripo) were issued grey-green SS uniforms in occupied territory to avoid being mistaken for civilians.

SS uniforms used a variety of insignia, the most standard of which were collar patches, to denote rank, and shoulder knots (which acted as shoulder boards), to denote both rank and position, along with sleeve cuff titles and "sleeve diamond" patches, to indicate membership in specific branches of the SS.

Early SS uniforms (1925–1928)
The SS could trace its origins to several early Freikorps and Nazi Party formations, among them the Erhardt Naval Brigade, Der Stahlhelm, and most significantly the Sturmabteilung (SA), of which the SS was originally a subordinate organisation.

The very first SA uniforms and insignia were paramilitary uniforms fashioned by early Nazis which incorporated parts from World War I uniforms to include such features used by other Freikorps formation such as high boots, daggers, and the kepi hat. The 8-man Stabswache (staff guard), Adolf Hitler's bodyguard, soon renamed the Stoßtrupp (shock troop), also adopted in May 1923 the Totenkopf (death's head) and oak leaf as a means of insignia, both of which were already deeply rooted in European military history.

In 1924, while the Nazi Party was legally banned following the Beer Hall Putsch, Frontbann (underground SA) leader Gerhard Roßbach located a large store of war-surplus brown denim shirts in Austria, originally intended for tropical uniforms. When the SA (which included the nascent SS) was re-founded in 1925 following Hitler's release from prison, these brown shirts were issued as part of the uniforms.

In 1925, Hitler ordered the formation of a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando (protection command). It was formed by Julius Schreck and included old Stoßtrupp members, Emil Maurice and Erhard Heiden. The only insignia was the swastika armband, usually homemade, except for the handful of men constituting the Stoßtrupp successor, the Schutzkommando, who continued the use of the Totenkopf pinned to cap or collar. That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded to a national level. It was renamed successively the Sturmstaffel (storm squadron), and finally the Schutzstaffel (protection squadron), abbreviated to SS (on 9 November). In the following year adopted its first recognisable rank insignia system, with the rank and file of the SS, like the rest of the SA, still wearing a variety of brown shirts or paramilitary uniforms. The early rank system of 1926 consisted of a swastika armband worn with yellow (gold) and white (silver) stripes, with the number of stripes determining the rank of the bearer. Thus, the early SS used a ranking system that could be derived from that of their superordinate SA. This is why the SS also used the system that represented the function of the SS leader with the help of stripes on the armband (Dienststellungs-Armbinde). All strips (gold and silver) had a uniform height of 1 cm. What all armbands had in common was that they also had 1 black ribbed stripe on each edge.

 * Reichsstaffelführer in der Obersten SA-Führung (national leader): three golden stripes
 * Stellvertreter (deputy national leader): three silver stripes
 * Gau-SS-Führer (district leader): two golden stripes
 * Stellvertreter (deputy district leader): two silver stripes
 * Örtlicher SS-Führer (regional leader): one golden stripe
 * Stellvertreter (deputy regional leader): one silver stripe
 * Staffelmann (trooper): no stripes

Under the above system, basic SS troopers were organised into 10-man Staffeln, each under the authority of a Staffelführer. SS districts, known as SS-Gaus, were under the authority of a Gauführer while all SS district leaders answered to a national leader of the SS called the Reichsführer, at this time Joseph Berchtold. In line with the Führerprinzip (leader principle) of the Nazi Party's ideology, the word Führer was incorporated into all ranks except those for basic SS troopers.

By 1927, the Sturmabteilung had greatly increased its numbers and had standardised the "brown shirt" uniform, which would thereafter be permanently associated with that group: shirt, tie, breeches, boots, and cylindrical kepi, all brown. The SS was at this time a small unit within the SA and wore the same brown SA uniform, with the addition of a black tie and a black cap with a Totenkopf skull and bones symbol to distinguish themselves.

By this time, with influences from the Stahlhelm, the SA leadership adopted its first collar insignia and also added a new SA rank of Standartenführer (standard leader) in charge of regiment-sized Standarten (incorporating the company sized Staffeln); the SS at this time adopted the same rank as well. The 1927 ranks had no insignia for SA/SS troopers (still known by the title "Mann") and the previous rank of Staffelführer had become shortened to simply Führer (leader). The higher SS ranks of Standartenführer, Gauführer, and Reichsführer like their SA counterparts now used a system of oak leaves displayed on both collars of the brown SA shirt. One oak leaf signified a Standartenführer, two a Gauführer, and three oak leaves were worn by Reichsführer-SS Berchtold and his successor Erhard Heiden, who reported directly to the Oberste SA-Führer.

Over the course of the next year, the burgeoning SA saw the emergence of new units and ranks, and for the first time a comprehensive system of rank insignia. A basic squad unit, the 10-man Schar, was grouped into platoon-sized Truppen, and these into company-sized Stürme which in turn made up battalion-sized Sturmbanne. New ranks went with the new formations: Scharführer, with one pip worn on the left collar patch, Truppführer, two pips, Sturmführer, three pips, and Sturmbannführer, four pips. On the right collar of SA uniforms was worn a patch with two numbers indicating Standarte and Sturmbann affiliation. Because the SS numbered fewer than a thousand men, it did not adopt the Sturmbann unit at this time, and right-hand SS collar patches displayed the number of the Standarte only.

At the higher end of the organisation, in 1928 the SA Gau-Stürme were restructured into regional Gruppen, each commanded by a leader with a new general-officer rank, Gruppenführer; its insignia was the three oak leaf collar patch. At this time the former rank of Gauführer was renamed Oberführer (senior leader).

The collar patches of the SA were color-coded: each Gruppe had its own distinctive color. The SS was considered to be a Gruppe unto itself; its color, naturally, was black, and Reichsführer-SS Heiden held the rank of Gruppenfuhrer and wore its three oak leaf insignia.

SS Brownshirts (1929–1932)
In 1929, under new Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS codified its first uniform regulations: the signature black color was extended to breeches, boots, armband edges, and belt and crossbelt; the shirt collar was edged in black-and-white twist cord except for those of senior leaders, which were trimmed in silver.

The ability to produce and issue complete uniforms came about due both to the centralisation of the Reichszeugmeisterei (RZM; national quartermaster office) under NSDAP Treasurer Franz Xaver Schwarz, and to Himmler's expansion and reorganisation of the fast-growing SS (from 280 members to 52,000 between 1929 and 1932) into several brigade-sized Brigaden throughout Germany, each comprising three to five regiment-sized Standarten. Within the Standarten now existed two to three battalion-sized Sturmbanne (storm units), and beneath this level were the Stürme, Truppen, and Scharen.

For the lower ranks, the SS also specified that a patch showing the wearer's regiment (Standarte) would be worn opposite the badge of rank while the higher SS leaders would continue to wear oak leaf insignia on both collars. Collar tabs below the rank of Sturmführer were edged in black-and-white twist cord; those of Sturm and Sturmbann leaders used black-and-silver while those of senior leaders were edged in solid silver cord.

In addition to the collar unit insignia, the SS now created a cuffband system which was worn on the lower left sleeve. These cuffbands were black and displayed the bearer's Sturm number together with color-coded edges indicating the Sturmbann, which in conjunction with the collar insignia showed regiment, battalion, and company affiliation. Leaders above the company level did not at this time use the cuffband system.

The holder of the title of Reichsführer was still considered an SA-Gruppenführer, with Reichsführer itself not yet an actual rank. In addition, for a brief period in 1929, the rank of Standartenführer was divided into two separate grades, known as Standartenführer (I) and Standartenführer (II); the insignia of one oak leaf was used for both positions. This situation was another reflection of the SS' rapid expansion: Oberführers now commanded the three newly created SS-Oberführerbereiche, east, west and south; and so a senior Standartenführer was promoted to command each SS-Brigade.

Hitler's personal guard, known at this stage by the original SS name of Stabswache (later to be known as the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler), was also expressing its independence and increasing its size under the leadership of Sepp Dietrich.

The Stennes revolt of August 1930, in which members of the SA attacked the Berlin party Gau headquarters which was defended by the SS, had profound consequences for the SA and its relationship to its subordinate organisation. In an open letter to Berlin SS leader Kurt Daluege, Hitler proclaimed SS Mann, deine Ehre heißt Treue! (SS soldier, your honour is called loyalty!). Subsequently, Meine Ehre heißt Treue (My honour is loyalty) was adopted by the SS as its motto. More significantly, Hitler cashiered SA head Franz Pfeffer von Salomon and assumed the position of Oberste SA-Führer personally, and simultaneously promoted both Himmler and Daluege to the new rank of SS-Obergruppenführer. Daluege was the SS leader of Northern Germany while Himmler controlled southern SS units out of Munich while serving as the National Leader for the SS; this move had the effect of rendering the loyal SS practically independent of the suspect SA, since Himmler and Daluege now outranked all SA commanders.

Another result of the Stennes revolt was Hitler's recall of his old Putsch comrade Ernst Röhm from South America to take over the day-to-day running of the SA with the title of SA-Stabschef. While Hitler thought that this would bind the SA more firmly to him, Röhm had other ambitions, including the conversion of the paramilitary Sturmabteilung into an army. With his expansions, promotions, and changes to the SA, a revision of the SA rank system was required although the uniforms and titles essentially stayed the same. The first major change was the addition of new ranks modeled on the original titles created in 1928 but with the addition of "senior" and "head" designators (ober and haupt): these were Oberscharführer, Obertruppführer, and Sturmhauptführer. The new rank insignia were created by adding a silver stripe to the collar pips of the next-lower rank.

A 1930 change to the SS uniform was the addition of a single narrow shoulder strap worn on the right side. There were four grades of shoulder strap: until 1933 a black-and-white pattern was worn by SS troopers, an epaulette of parallel silver cords by Sturm and Sturmbann leaders, a twisted pattern in silver cord by standarten-, ober-, and Gruppenführers, and a braided silver shoulderboard by the two Obergruppenführers.

By 1931, Himmler was secure (or independent) enough to reorganise the SS, formerly one SA-Gruppe, into five SS-Gruppen divided into several Brigaden led by officers with the new rank of Brigadeführer; its insignia was the two oak leaves of an Oberführer with a pip.

SS black uniforms (1932–1934)
In 1932, the SS introduced its best-known uniform, the black ensemble designed by Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer and SS member Walter Heck. The shirt remained brown as a nod to the SA, of which the SS was still nominally a part, but all else was black from high boots to the new military-style peaked cap, aside from the red armband. SS men were also issued black wool greatcoats for inclement weather, which similarly carried the armband, epaulette, and collar patches. Around this time, a belt buckle featuring the motto Meine Ehre heißt Treue (My honour is loyalty) in its design was produced by the Overhoff firm to replace the SA buckle.

Two new junior positions were introduced: Sturmmann and Rottenführer. By this time, Himmler had also increased scrutiny on SS membership with a particular focus on proof of "Aryan" ancestry, and created a "candidate" position known as SS-Anwärter, which prospective SS members were required to hold for at least six months before formally joining the SS as an SS-Mann. With membership continuing to increase, Röhm invented two new officer ranks: Obersturmführer and Obersturmbannführer.

In 1933, after Hitler had become Chancellor, the SS began to make more of a distinction between 'officers' and 'enlisted men;' an SS man could now only be promoted to Sturmführer with Himmler's approval, based upon the Reichsführer’s personal review of the candidate's application. Himmler always detested the army's class distinctions. It was forbidden for SS men to follow the army custom of addressing superior officers by prefixing Herr to their rank, and Kamerad was an approved form of address under most circumstances.

Also in 1933, the runes insignia was introduced, which would eventually become known as the symbol for the entire SS. The first use of the SS runes was as a unit insignia limited only to members of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler which had replaced the Army Chancellery Guard to become Hitler's main protectors. It was at this time that the Leibstandarte moved from being a "paramilitary" formation armed with pistols and truncheons to "military", equipped with rifles, bayonets, and steel helmets. The adaptation of this particular unit insignia was largely the work of Sepp Dietrich who on 4 November 1933, declared the unit an independent formation and, although a part of the SS, answerable to Hitler alone. Dietrich even went so far as to forbid Himmler from entering the Berlin Leibstandarte barracks and, for a brief few months in 1933, ordered his Leibstandarte soldiers to wear the black uniform without a swastika armband in order to differentiate the bodyguard unit from the rank and file of the Allgemeine SS (General SS) units throughout Germany.

At the same time Dietrich and the Leibstandarte adopted the SS runes as their unit insignia, the full-time SS headquarters and command staffs began using a blank collar patch, without a unit number, to differentiate themselves from the "rank and file" SS units in Germany which were still using regiment Standarten numbers as their unit insignia. Thus, by the end of 1933, there were three unit collar insignia patches in existence: the SS runes used by the Leibstandarte, the blank collar patch used by the SS headquarters and command staff, and the numbered SS unit insignia worn by regular SS companies throughout Germany.

In 1934, with the rise of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), the SS runes unit insignia was expanded to these other formations of the then fledgling military arm of the SS (later to become known as the Waffen-SS). To separate these new military formations from the main Leibstandarte regiment under Dietrich, the SS runes worn by the Verfügungstruppe displayed a small number corresponding to the particular SS-VT regiment of the bearer. In all, there were three possible numbers: 1 for members of the Deutschland regiment, 2 for Germania personnel, and (from 1938) 3 for members of the Der Führer regiment. These insignia would survive throughout World War II and were kept in use after the three original regiments had expanded to full-sized military regimental strength in the war-time 2nd SS Division "Das Reich", roughly equivalent in size to their German Army counterparts.

In addition to the expansion of the collar unit insignia system, the SS by 1934 had also greatly expanded the system of sleeve cuffbands which were now a standard part of the black uniform, worn on the lower left sleeve. Within the Allgemeine SS companies, cuffbands were worn in conjunction with a unit collar patch to denote regiment, battalion, and company affiliation. While the unit collar patch displayed the wearer's Standarte (regiment) number, the number denoted on the cuffband indicated the Sturm, or company, while collared piping along the cuffband further denoted in which battalion (Sturmbann) a member served.

For those personnel serving above the regiment level, a bare cuffband was worn or a cuffband bearing a Roman numeral could be displayed. The Roman numeral cuffband indicated membership on the staff of the SS-Brigade so numbered, which by the end of 1934 had become known as an SS-Abschnitt. For the even higher levels, such as Himmler or the senior SS-Gruppe leaders (later known by the title SS-Oberabschnitt Führer) a solid silver cuffband was worn.

Within the early military SS, which included the Leibstandarte and the formations of the SS-Verfügungstruppe, a series of cuffbands were introduced which bore the name of the regiment to which the bearer was assigned. The most coveted of these was the "Adolf Hitler" cuffband, carrying the Führer’s name in Sütterlin script, which was worn solely by members of the Leibstandarte.

SS pre-war uniforms (1934–1938)
An event that significantly altered the SS rank and insignia structure was the Night of the Long Knives, which occurred from 30 June to 2 July 1934. As a result of SS participation in the purge and execution of the SA leadership, the SS was declared an independent formation of the Nazi Party that answered only to Hitler. Several of the rank titles were renamed to completely separate the SS from its SA origins.

The most significant rank change was the creation of the rank of Reichsführer-SS to denote the commander of the SS. The new rank was the equivalent of a field marshal in the army. Prior to 1934, Himmler had been regarded simply as an SS-Obergruppenführer. Reichsführer was merely a title and not a rank prior to 1934, though Himmler preferred to use his title more than his rank. In addition to Himmler’s new rank, several of the original SS rank titles were renamed (although retained the same insignia), bringing about the final nomenclature of SS ranks which would be used until the SS was disbanded at the end of World War II.

The change in SS rank titles applied mainly to the non-commissioned officer ranks as well as the ranks of Sturmführer and Sturmhauptführer which received new names. The titles of the remaining ranks remained unchanged.

In the wake of the "Röhm-Putsch", the SS officially took over the concentration camps from the SA and police. Soon thereafter, camp guards began wearing the Totenkopf on the right collar patch, to distinguish themselves from the numbered Allgemeine-SS Standarten. This was inconsistent in the early days; some guards instead wore tabs with the initial of their camp (e. g. "D" for Dachau), and some wore blank tabs. About 1935, the black uniform proving impractical for daily service wear, the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps adopted a working uniform in "earth-brown" (erdbraun), which was identical in cut to the black tunic except for shoulderboards on both sides. In March 1936, the camp "service" was formally established as the third branch of the SS, the Totenkopfverbände or Death's Head units

At about this same time, for similar reasons, the SS military formations (the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and the SS-Verfügungstruppe) adopted a service uniform in what was termed "earth-grey" (erdgrau). This also was based on the black uniform, but without the red swastika armband, its place on the left sleeve being taken by an eagle-and-swastika patch, and worn with trousers and shoes or calf-high jackboots. In June 1938 this uniform was authorised for full-time Allgemeine SS cadres as well; the LSSAH and SS-VT then adopted army-pattern shoulderboards to distinguish themselves from the general SS and emphasise their military role.

In February 1934, the Honour Chevron for the Old Guard (Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer; honour chevron for old campaigners) was introduced for all SS men who had joined the Nazi Party or a Party-affiliated organisation prior to January 30, 1933; after the Anschluss, it was also authorised for Austrians who had joined the DNSAP prior to 18 February 1938. It took the form of a silver lace chevron worn on the right sleeve. During this period, the principal SS insignia also underwent design changes. The ancient jawless Danziger style of Totenkopf was gradually replaced by the 'classic' SS skull, a naturalistic design with grinning jaws; the old form was taken up by the army's newly formed Panzerwaffe. Additionally, in March 1936, Hitler approved a new art deco eagle with staggered wingtips for the SS, which was worn through the end of the war as a cap badge and on the sleeve.

By the end of 1938, the SS had also adopted a new insignia feature of sleeve diamonds worn on the bottom of the left sleeve. Between 1939 and 1940, the SS expanded its cuffband and sleeve diamond system into a vast array of over 30 cuffbands and more than 12 sleeve diamonds.

SS uniforms of World War II (1939–1945)
When World War II began in 1939, the Allgemeine SS grey service uniforms took on a more military appearance with the somewhat "ad-hoc" adoption of Wehrmacht-style shoulderboards, except for SS generals, who, until 1942, continued to wear the narrow braided silver SS shoulderboards to denote general rank. It was also at this time that the rank of SS-Oberführer lost its status as a general officer rank and was instead now regarded as a senior colonel position. The black uniform was increasingly seldom seen, eventually being worn only by part-time Allgemeine SS reservists. The last ceremonial event at which the black uniforms were worn "en masse" was the Berlin victory parade following the fall of France in June 1940. In 1942, Himmler ordered most of the black uniforms recalled and stripped of insignia. They were sent east for use by the native auxiliary police units and sent west to be used by Germanic SS units such as the ones in the Netherlands and Denmark. In 1937, the LSSAH and SS-VT had adopted a closed-collar feldgrau (grey-green) field uniform for combat wear, which with the outbreak of war became the standard uniform of what would soon be the Waffen-SS. This feldanzug was very similar to the Model 1936 army field uniform; however, the SS version had a somewhat wider collar in feldgrau (field-grey) rather than Heer bottle-green, the lower pockets were of the SS angled slash type, and the second button was placed lower to permit the collar optionally to be worn open with a necktie like the service-dress uniforms. The Totenkopf branch, which was designated the reserve for the Waffen-SS, also adopted this uniform. Waffen-SS Panzer troops wore a double-breasted black uniform similar to the army model, but somewhat different in cut; the SS also made extensive use of camouflage clothing as the war progressed. The full-time Allgemeine SS cadres, especially Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) personnel, continued to wear the earth-grey service-dress uniform.

A unique situation developed during World War II with regards to SS ranks held by those who had served in Allgemeine SS positions from before the outbreak of war and now wished to serve with the Waffen-SS. With such persons being SS members already, it was expected that they would join the Waffen-SS in order to serve in combat; some members in fact had no choice and were drafted for combat service due to their Allgemeine SS billet being done away with or, in situations involving disciplinary actions, transferred into combat as the result of a hearing before an SS and police court; Wilhelm Höttl was one such example.

As a result of Allgemeine SS members transferring into the Waffen-SS, SS members held two separate ranks – one in the Allgemeine SS and another in the Waffen-SS. Waffen-SS officers could also hold a regular or reserve commission, with most Allgemeine SS members being appointed to the Waffen-SS reserves (the intent was to easily be able to place such members on inactive duty once the war had ended).

The security forces of the SS, such as SD troops that were part of the Einsatzgruppen, were also all considered part of the Allgemeine SS, even though many of these persons (especially in the field) wore uniforms nearly identical to the Waffen-SS; to further the confusion, many agents of the security police (SiPo) in such "field" roles wore Waffen-SS uniform even though they were not ex officio members of any branch of the SS. By 1943, the SS had made a determined effort that most field personnel (including concentration camp staffs) were granted Waffen-SS ranks and, in 1944, any Allgemeine SS who served in an area that commanded SS combat troops, was granted a Waffen-SS commission.

Another uniform insignia change occurred in April 1942 with the creation of the rank of SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer. This necessitated an insignia change for SS generals and all SS generals at this time began wearing Wehrmacht-style gold shoulder boards; Oberführers wore the shoulderboards of an army Oberst (colonel), just as Standartenführers did. The sole exception was Himmler who continued to wear the silver braided shoulderboard with oak leaves of his rank as Reichsführer-SS. At the same time the collar patches for general officers were revised; the 1942 pattern used three oak leaves, rather straighter than the old style, with zero to three pips indicating rank from Brigadeführer through Oberstgruppenführer.

SS uniform suppliers could not keep up with wartime demand and, as a result, the Waffen-SS and Totenkopfverbande frequently wore uniforms drawn from army stocks, with the addition of SS insignia. By the middle of World War II, a wide variety of uniforms could be observed, even within the same unit.

Waffen-SS and SS-TV members during this period wore army-style shoulderboards with SS collar patches; edging of enlisted collar tabs was discontinued in 1940 while SS officers' collar patches continued to be trimmed in silver. Enlisted shoulderboards were made of black fabric as opposed to army dark green or field-grey (grey-green), and officers had a black underlay; all shoulderboards were piped in waffenfarbe (branch-colour). Junior leaders (Sturmmann and Rottenführer) wore sleeve chevrons corresponding to army insignia (Gefreiter and Obergefreiter), but with black backing; SS non-commissioned officers wore army-style silver-grey braid around the collar.

By 1943, a special staff non-commissioned officer position, known as Stabsscharführer had been adopted by the Waffen-SS. This position, equivalent to an army Hauptfeldwebel, was denoted by a special sleeve insignia and was not an actual rank, but rather a title for the head SS non-commissioned officer of a particular combat unit. The rank of Sturmscharführer was also unique to the Waffen-SS as a type of regimental sergeant major.

The staffs of concentration camps had by now standardised the skull collar patch, whereas between 1934 and 1938 the Totenkopf as well as various camp specific collar patches, displaying Germanic letters, had been used as unit insignia. Other unit insignia collar patches included a Standarte-number patch for most of the Allgemeine SS, a blank collar patch worn by SS main office staffs and Sicherheitsdienst (and some SiPo) personnel, the sig-runes Waffen-SS patch (adopted after 1943 as the standard unit collar patch for most of the SS), and a numbered skull patch which was used by personnel serving in field units of the Totenkopfverbände; the three senior Totenkopfstandarten, formed into the Totenkopf division, would retain these collar patches throughout the war, but the remaining TK-Standarten were redesignated SS-Regimenter and switched to sig-runes in February 1941. As the war went on, the Waffen-SS recruited heavily among conquered populations, creating 'ethnic' brigades and divisions. These formations wore, in place of the sig-runes, distinctive unit collar patches identifying them as Freiwillige (foreign volunteers). In the last days of World War II, the SS also created a twin swastika collar patch which was used by the "auxiliary SS" which were non-SS members conscripted to serve in concentration camp positions.

SS generals of the Waffen-SS were typically addressed by both their SS rank title and a corresponding general's rank associated with the Wehrmacht. All such general ranks were followed by the phrase der Waffen-SS to distinguish the SS General from their counterparts in the branches of the German military. Thus, a typical title was Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS.

Police ranks and insignia
In 1936, the regular German police, previously agencies of the Länder or states, were nationalised and placed under Himmler, who was named Chef der Deutschen Polizei (Chief of German Police). The ordinary uniformed police were called the Ordnungspolizei (order police). Known as the Orpo, the Ordnungspolizei maintained a separate system of Orpo ranks, insignia, and uniforms. It was also possible for SS members to hold dual status in both the Orpo and the SS, and SS generals were referred to simultaneously by both rank titles. For instance, an Obergruppenführer in the SS who was also a police general would be referred to as Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei (Obergruppenführer and General of the Police). In late 1939, Orpo personnel were formed into a combat division, recognisable by its use of police insignia; in 1942, this formation was absorbed into the Waffen-SS to become the 4th SS-Polizei Panzergrenadier Division.

Germanic SS uniforms and foreign units rank
Germanic SS uniforms were modified versions of the original black Allgemeine SS uniforms and were used strictly by the Germanic SS in occupied countries. These units were provided with surplus black uniforms upon which were displayed country specific insignia. This led to a wide variety of insignia and rank titles depending on the country of origin, although standardised throughout the entire Germanic SS were the rank insignia pips and oak leaves used by the SS proper. The Germanic SS effectively ceased to exist in late 1944, after which time most of its members were folded into the foreign legions of the Waffen-SS.

As with the SS titles, recruits of non-Germanic countries had the title "Waffen" prefixed to their rank. For instance, an Unterscharführer in the foreign legions would be referred to as Waffen-Unterscharführer whereas a regular SS member would be addressed as SS-Unterscharführer. This helped to indicate non-native recruits, or to separate Germanic individuals in the divisions composed primarily of non-Germanics.

Special SS uniforms
SS officers had the option of purchasing formal dress and mess dress uniforms. The formal uniform was not unlike U.S. or UK dinner-dress uniforms, cut like a civilian tailcoat without the tails, and worn with white or black bowtie and waistcoat.

For use in hot weather climates like Southern Europe and North Africa, a tropical uniform of tan cotton was developed. Insignia was similar to that of standard SS uniforms but in tan thread on black backing. Waffen-SS troops were pioneering among German forces in the use of camouflage clothing and wore it extensively during the war. Usually, the camouflage patterns were worn on overall parkas, reversible smocks or helmet covers, with camouflaged tunics being introduced later during the war. Uniforms were manufactured in hundreds of licensed factories, with some workers being prisoners-of-war performing forced labour. Many were produced in Nazi concentration camps.

SS titles
In addition to the rank titles used by the SS, the following titles were frequently interchanged when addressing SS personnel in certain positions of authority.
 * SS-Mann: A generic term for any member of the SS. Also used as an actual rank of the Allgemeine SS
 * SS-Führer: Originally an early rank of the SS, the term SS-Führer designated commissioned officers of the SS and means "SS leader".
 * SS-Unterführer: This term designated non-commissioned officers in the SS. An enlisted SS soldier, applying for non-commissioned officer status, was often known as an Unterführer-Anwärter.
 * SD-Leiter: This title was used by senior officers of the Sicherheitsdienst, typically those in command of a major SD office or regional headquarters.
 * SS- und Polizeiführer: Translated as "SS and police leader", these were some of the most powerful men in the SS, commanding all SS, Gestapo, Kripo, and Orpo units in a given geographic region, often of the size of a major military district.
 * Oberster Führer der Schutzstaffel: (lit. '"Supreme Leader of the SS"'), was a special title intended to be held solely by Adolf Hitler. When the SS became an independent organisation from the SA in 1934, Hitler was listed on SS officer rolls as SS member #1 and the group's Supreme Commander. This title was intended to give Hitler a technically higher SS rank to Himmler (Reich Leader of the SS), but there is no photographic record of Hitler wearing an SS uniform, and there was no special SS insignia for Hitler above that worn by Himmler.

Secret police ranks
In addition, any SS member who also served in the Gestapo or Kripo held a unique criminal investigator rank, one of the more common of which was Kriminalrat, a police investigator's rank denoting professional detectives. Arthur Nebe, a career policeman, went by the title of Kriminalrat for most of the 1930s, only using an SS rank when engaged in non-Kripo activities. The Gestapo also maintained an entire array of ranks, which might be used interchangeably with SS rank if the agent also belonged to the SS (many did not).

SS membership numbers
Adolf Hitler, as the Führer of Germany, was considered SS member #1; Emil Maurice (one of the founders of the SS) was member #2. Based on the seniority system of SS membership numbers, this made Hitler senior in the SS to all other members. The SS membership number system was also a means to denote the "old guard" of the SS, and to hold a number below 50,000 was considered a special place of honor since it denoted SS membership before the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. Numbers below 500 were considered the original cadre of the SS, while any number below fifty denoted an original founder and, in most cases, a personal associate of Hitler.


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Wing Commander Academy

Wing Commander Academy is a 1996 American animated television series produced by Universal Cartoon Studios, along with a team led by Larry Latham. The show was based on the Wing Commander franchise and loosely served as a prequel to Wing Commander. The show's aired from September 21 to December 21, 1996, on the USA Network's "USA Action Extreme Team" block.

Main cast

 * Mark Hamill as Christopher 'Maverick' Blair
 * Thomas F. Wilson as Todd 'Maniac' Marshall
 * Malcolm McDowell as Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn
 * Dana Delany as Gwen 'Archer' Bowman

Additional voices

 * Lauri Hendler as Maya McEaddens, Lindsay 'Payback' Price
 * Kevin Schon as Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka, Hector 'Grunt' Paz
 * Pat Fraley as Dr. Guthrig Andropolos, Gharal nar Hhallas
 * Ron Perlman as Daimon Karnes
 * Jeff Bennett as Bokh nar Ragitika
 * Dorian Harewood as Jazzman
 * Jessica Walter as Admiral Rhea Bergstrom
 * Joan Van Ark as Dr. Bronwyn Sing
 * Jim Cummings as Emil 'Easy' Zoharian
 * Jennifer Hale as Princess Zukara nar Kiranka
 * Andrew Prine as Vidkun
 * Michael Dorn as the Warrior King

Spacecraft featured in the series
The series featured many spacecraft introduced in the Wing Commander video games. The Scimitar and Broadsword were the primary fighters and bombers flown by the main characters, with the Dralthi and Grikath fulfilling those roles for the Kilrathi. As in Wing Commander I, the TCS Tiger's Claw was a Bengal class strike carrier. Individual episodes also featured cameo appearances from ships introduced in later games such as Wing Commander III's Arrow, Hellcat and Longbow and Wing Commander IV's Avenger. None of these ships are mentioned by name. A number of new capital ships were introduced by the series including the Achilles class destroyer and the Agan Ra Sivar class dreadnaught.

Home media
In March 2012, Visual Entertainment released Wing Commander Academy - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. The series became available on the Peacock streaming service in July 2020.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Wing Commander Academy


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Terri Schiavo case

The Terri Schiavo case was a series of court and legislative actions in the United States from 1998 to 2005, regarding the care of Theresa Marie Schiavo (née Schindler) (December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005), a woman in an irreversible persistent vegetative state. Schiavo's husband and legal guardian argued that Schiavo would not have wanted prolonged artificial life support without the prospect of recovery, and in 1998, he elected to remove her feeding tube. Schiavo's parents disputed her husband's assertions and challenged Schiavo's medical diagnosis, arguing in favor of continuing artificial nutrition and hydration. The highly publicized and prolonged series of legal challenges presented by her parents, which ultimately involved state and federal politicians up to the level of George W. Bush, the then U.S. president, caused a seven-year (1998 to 2005) delay before Schiavo's feeding tube was ultimately removed.

On February 25, 1990, at age 26, Schiavo went into cardiac arrest at her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was resuscitated, but had massive brain damage due to lack of oxygen to her brain and was left comatose. After two and a half months without improvement, her diagnosis was changed to that of a persistent vegetative state. For the next two years, doctors attempted occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy and other experimental therapy, hoping to return her to a state of awareness, without success. In 1998, Schiavo's husband Michael Schiavo petitioned the Sixth Circuit Court of Florida to remove her feeding tube pursuant to Florida law. He was opposed by Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler. The court determined that Schiavo would not have wished to continue life-prolonging measures, and on April 24, 2001, her feeding tube was removed for the first time, only to be reinserted several days later. On February 25, 2005, a Pinellas County judge again ordered the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Several appeals and federal government intervention followed, which included Bush returning to Washington, D.C., to sign legislation moving the case to the federal courts. After appeals through the federal court system that upheld the original decision to remove the feeding tube, staff at the Pinellas Park hospice facility disconnected the feeding tube on March 18, 2005, and Schiavo died on March 31, 2005.

The Schiavo case involved 14 appeals and numerous legal motions, petitions, and hearings in the Florida courts; five suits in federal district court; extensive political intervention at the levels of the Florida state legislature, Governor Jeb Bush, the U.S. Congress, and President George W. Bush; and four denials of certiorari from the Supreme Court of the United States. The case also spurred highly visible activism from the United States anti-abortion movement, the right-to-die movement, and disability rights groups. Since Schiavo's death, both her husband and her family have written books on their sides of the case, and both have also been involved in activism over related issues.

Early life
Terri Schiavo was born Theresa Marie Schindler to Mary (born 1941) and Robert Schindler (1937–2009) on December 3, 1963, in Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. She was the oldest of three children. Her mother reported that, as a child, Terri would spend hours in her bedroom arranging her collection of stuffed animals. As a teen, she enjoyed listening to John Denver and reading Danielle Steel romances. She attended Bucks County Community College, where she met Michael Schiavo in 1982. The two began dating and married on November 10, 1984. They moved to Florida in 1986, following Terri's parents. Michael worked as a restaurant manager, while Terri took up a bookkeeping job with an insurance company. She had naturally dark hair, but dyed it blonde.

Initial medical crisis: 1990
In the early morning of February 25, 1990, Terri Schiavo collapsed in a hallway of her St. Petersburg, Florida apartment. Firefighters and paramedics, arriving in response to her husband Michael's 9-1-1 call, found her face-down and unconscious. She was not breathing and had no pulse. They attempted to resuscitate her and she was transported to the Humana Northside Hospital. Paramedics had her intubated and ventilated.

Initial medical assessments
The cause of Schiavo's collapse was determined to be cardiac arrest. Her medical chart contained a note that "she apparently has been trying to keep her weight down with dieting by herself, drinking liquids most of the time during the day and drinking about 10–15 glasses of iced tea." Upon admission to the hospital, she was noted as suffering from hypokalemia (low potassium levels): her serum potassium level was an abnormally low 2.0 mEq/L (the normal range for adults is 3.5–5.0 mEq/L). Her sodium and calcium levels were normal. Electrolyte imbalance is often caused by drinking excessive fluids, and a serious consequence of hypokalemia can be heart rhythm abnormalities, including sudden arrhythmia death syndrome. Schiavo was eventually switched from being fed by a nasogastric feeding tube to a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding tube. Garcia J. DeSousa, a board-certified neurologist in St. Petersburg, Florida, who previously treated Schiavo, cared for her during her initial admission to Humana Northside; both he and Victor Gambone, an internist and Schiavo family physician, independently made the diagnosis of persistent vegetative state within approximately one year after her sudden cardiac arrest.

Relationship between Terri's husband and parents
From 1990 to 1993, Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers (Terri Schiavo's parents) enjoyed an amicable relationship, with the Schindlers allowing Michael to live rent-free in their condominium for several months.

Rehabilitation efforts: 1990–1993
In November 1990, Michael Schiavo took Terri to the University of California, San Francisco, for experimental nerve stimulation with a thalamic stimulator. The treatment took several months and was unsuccessful. He returned to Florida with her in January 1991 and admitted her as an inpatient to the Mediplex Rehabilitation Center in Bradenton, Florida. On July 19, 1991, Schiavo was transferred to the Sabal Palms Skilled Care Facility, where she received neurological testing and regular speech and occupational therapy until 1994. In mid-1993, Michael Schiavo requested a do not resuscitate order for her after she contracted a urinary tract infection.

Malpractice
In 1992, Michael filed a malpractice suit against Terri's gynecologist on the basis that he failed to diagnose bulimia as the cause of her infertility. Terri had gone to the doctor because she had stopped menstruating but the doctor had failed to take her medical history into account which might have revealed an eating disorder. During the case, one of Terri's friends testified that she knew Schiavo was bulimic. In November 1992, Michael won the case and was awarded $6.8 million by the jury, later reduced to $2 million as Terri was found partly at fault for her condition. After attorneys' fees and other expenses, Michael received $300,000 and $750,000 was put in a trust fund for Terri's medical care. According to Michael, in early 2003 the Schindlers demanded that he share the malpractice money with them.

Petition to remove feeding tube
On June 18, 1990, the court appointed Michael Schiavo as Terri Schiavo's legal guardian; this appointment was not disputed by the Schindlers at the time. In May 1998, Michael Schiavo filed a petition to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, which her parents opposed. Richard Pearse was appointed by the court as a second guardian ad litem (GAL), and on December 29, 1998, reported "Dr. Jeffrey Karp's opinion of the ward's condition and prognosis is substantially shared among those physicians who have recently been involved in her treatment." Pearse concluded from Karp's and Vincent Gambone's diagnosis of Persistent Vegetative State that Schiavo was legally in a persistent vegetative state as defined by Florida Statutes, Title XLIV, Chapter 765, §101(12). This includes the "absence of voluntary action" and an "inability to communicate or interact purposefully".

Pearse found that there was no possibility of improvement but that Michael Schiavo's decisions might have been influenced by the potential to inherit what remained of Terri Schiavo's estate as long as he remained married to her. Due to a lack of a living will and questions regarding Michael's credibility, Pearse recommended denying his petition to remove her feeding tube. Pearse reported that the issue of conflict of interest applied to the Schindlers as well since, had Michael divorced Terri as they wanted him to, they would have inherited the remainder of Terri Schiavo's estate upon her death.

Schiavo end-of-life wishes
Given the lack of a living will, a trial was held before Pinellas County Judge George Greer during the week of January 24, 2000, to determine what Terri Schiavo's wishes would have been regarding life-prolonging procedures. Michael Schiavo was represented by attorney George Felos, who had won a landmark right-to-die case before the Florida Supreme Court in 1990.

The trial included testimony from eighteen witnesses regarding her medical condition and her end-of-life wishes. Michael Schiavo claimed that his wife would not want to be kept on a machine where her chance for recovery was minuscule. According to Abstract Appeal Trial Order, her parents "claimed that Terri was a devout Roman Catholic who would not wish to violate the Church's teachings on euthanasia by refusing nutrition and hydration." Judge Greer issued his order granting the petition for authorization to discontinue artificial life support for Terri Schiavo in February 2000. In this decision, the court found that Terri Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state and that she had made reliable oral declarations that she would have wanted the feeding tube removed. This decision was upheld by the Florida Second District Court of Appeal (2nd DCA) and came to be known by the court as Schiavo I in its later rulings.

Oral feeding and the second guardianship challenge
In March 2000, the Schindlers filed a motion to permit assisted feeding of Terri, which is not considered a life-prolonging procedure under Florida law. Since clinical records indicated that Terri Schiavo was not responsive to swallowing tests and required a feeding tube, Judge Greer ruled that she was not capable of orally ingesting sufficient nutrition and hydration to sustain life, and denied the request. The Medical Examiner in his postmortem report was more definitive and reaffirmed that Schiavo could not have swallowed.

In 2000, the Schindlers again challenged Michael Schiavo's guardianship. The Schindlers suggested that he was wasting the assets within the guardianship account by transferring Terri Schiavo to a Pinellas Park, Florida, hospice "after it was clear that she was not 'terminal' within Medicare guidelines" for hospices. By this time, while still legally married to Terri Schiavo, Michael Schiavo was in a relationship with Jodi Centonze, and had fathered their first child. He said he chose not to divorce his wife and relinquish guardianship because he wanted to ensure her final wishes (not to be kept alive in a PVS) were carried out. The court denied the motion to remove the guardian, allowing that the evidence was not sufficient and, in some instances, not relevant. It set April 24, 2001, as the date on which the tube was to be removed.

Schiavo II
In April 2001, the Schindlers filed a motion for relief from judgment citing new evidence of Terri Schiavo's wishes. Judge Greer denied the motion as untimely under Rule 1.540(b)(5) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. The Second District Court of Appeal upheld Greer's decision but remanded the issue in order to give the Schindlers an opportunity to file a new motion. On April 24, 2001, Terri's feeding tube was removed for the first time. The Schindlers filed a civil suit against Michael Schiavo alleging perjury, which was assigned to another court. The judge, Frank Quesada, issued an injunction against the removal of feeding tube until this was settled. The feeding tube was reinserted on April 26, 2001. On appeal by Michael Schiavo, the Second District Court of Appeal reversed Judge Quesada's order. In the same time frame, Michael Schiavo filed a motion to enforce the mandate of the guardianship court (that the feeding tube be removed). The Second District Court of Appeal denied the motion. These three decisions, all published in a single order by Florida's Second District Court of Appeal, came to be known by the court as Schiavo II in its later rulings.

Schiavo III and IV: PVS diagnosis challenge
On August 10, 2001, on remand from the Florida Second District Court of Appeal, Judge Greer heard a motion from the Schindlers claiming that new medical treatment could restore sufficient cognitive ability such that Terri Schiavo herself would be able to decide to continue life-prolonging measures. The court also heard motions from the Schindlers to remove the guardian (Michael Schiavo) and to require Judge Greer to recuse himself. Judge Greer denied the motions and the Schindlers appealed to the Second District Court of Appeals. On October 17, 2001, the Court of Appeal affirmed the denials of the motions to remove and recuse. The Court of Appeals acknowledged that their opinion misled the trial court, and they remanded the question of Terri Schiavo's wishes back to the trial court and required an evidentiary hearing to be held. The court specified that five board certified neurologists were to testify. The Schindlers were allowed to choose two doctors to present findings at an evidentiary hearing while Schiavo could introduce two rebuttal experts. Finally, the trial court itself would appoint a new independent physician to examine and evaluate Terri Schiavo's condition. These decisions, all published in a single order by the Florida Second District Court of Appeal, came to be known by the court as Schiavo III in its later rulings. In October 2002, on remand by the Second District Court of Appeal, an evidentiary hearing was held in Judge Greer's court to determine whether new therapy treatments could help Terri Schiavo restore any cognitive function. In preparation for the trial, a new computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan) was performed, which showed severe cerebral atrophy. An EEG showed no measurable brain activity. The five physicians chosen were William Maxfield, a radiologist, and four neurologists: William Hammesfahr, Ronald Cranford, Melvin Greer and Peter Bambakidis.

The five doctors examined Terri Schiavo's medical records, brain scans, the videos, and Terri herself. Cranford, Greer, and Bambakidis testified that Terri Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). Drs. Maxfield and Hammesfahr testified that she was in a minimally conscious state. As part of the court-ordered medical exam, six hours of video of Terri Schiavo were taped and filed at the Pinellas County courthouse. The tape included Terri Schiavo with her mother and neurologist William Hammesfahr. The entire tape was viewed by Judge Greer, who wrote, Terri "clearly does not consistently respond to her mother". From that six hours of video, the Schindlers and their supporters produced six video clips intended to support their case, totaling less than six minutes, and released those clips to public websites. Judge Greer ruled that Terri Schiavo was in a PVS, and was beyond hope of significant improvement. The trial court order was particularly critical of Hammesfahr's testimony, which claimed positive results in similar cases by use of vasodilation therapy, the success of which is unsupported in the medical literature. This ruling was later affirmed by Florida's Second District Court of Appeal, which stated that "this court has closely examined all of the evidence in the record", and "we have ... carefully observed the video tapes in their entirety." The court concluded that "if we were called upon to review the guardianship court's decision de novo, we would still affirm it." This decision by the Second District Court of Appeals came to be known as Schiavo IV in later rulings.

Around the start of 2003, the Schindlers began to create more publicity by lobbying for their case to keep their daughter alive. On September 11, 2003, the Schindlers petitioned the court to forestall removal of the feeding tube in order to provide for "eight weeks' therapy". Accompanying the petition were four affidavits from members of the Schindler family and one from Dr. Alexander T. Gimon. At the hearing, the Schindlers' counsel read into the record additional affidavits from three speech professionals and two nurses. In particular, nurse Carla Sauer Iyer asserted that she was able to feed Terri Schiavo orally but that Michael characterized any such interaction as "therapy" and ordered her not to do so. Iyer claimed in her affidavit that her initial training in 1996 consisted solely of the instruction, "Do what Michael Schiavo tells you or you're terminated", and that standing orders were not to contact the Schindler family, but that she "would call them anyway".

On September 17, 2003, Judge George Greer denied the petition, and wrote that "the Petition is an attempt by Mr. and Mrs. Schindler to re-litigate the entire case. It is not even a veiled or disguised attempt. The exhibits relied upon by them, clearly demonstrate this to be true." Regarding Iyer's statements, Greer wrote that they were "incredible to say the least" and that "Ms. Iyer details what amounts to a 15-month cover-up from April 1995 through July 1996, which include the staff of Palm Garden of Largo Convalescent Center, the Guardian of the Person, the guardian ad litem, the medical professionals, the police and, believe it or not, Mr. and Mrs. Schindler ... It is impossible to believe that Mr. and Mrs. Schindler would not have subpoenaed Ms. Iyer for the January 2000 evidentiary hearing had Iyer contacted them in 1996 as her affidavit alleges."

Terri's Law and other government delays
On October 15, 2003, Schiavo's feeding tube was removed. Within a week, when the Schindlers' final appeal was exhausted, State Rep. Frank Attkisson and the Florida Legislature passed "Terri's Law" in an emergency session giving Governor Jeb Bush the authority to intervene in the case. Governor Bush immediately ordered the feeding tube reinserted. Governor Bush sent the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to remove Schiavo from the hospice. She was taken to Morton Plant Rehabilitation Hospital in Clearwater, where her feeding tube was surgically reinserted. She was then returned to the hospice. Part of the legislation required the appointment of a guardian ad litem (GAL), Jay Wolfson, to "deduce and represent the best wishes and best interests" of Schiavo, and report them to Governor Bush. Wolfson's report did not change Michael's role as her legal guardian and did not otherwise obstruct him legally.

Michael Schiavo opposed the Governor's intervention in Schiavo's case, and was represented, in part, by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). At the same time, Robert and Mary Schindler, her parents, attempted to intervene and participate in the "Terri's Law" case but were denied by Judge W. Douglas Baird, a Circuit Judge in the Florida Sixth Circuit. They appealed, and, on February 13, 2004, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal (Second District Court of Appeals) ordered Baird to hold further hearings on the issue. On March 17, 2004, Baird denied the Schindlers the right to intervene a second time. The Schindlers, represented by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), appealed the right to participate in the "Terri's Law" case, with the court scheduling an oral argument date for June 14. The Schindlers' other attorney, Pat Anderson, was concurrently challenging Michael Schiavo's right to be her guardian, and, on June 16, 2004, she made a petition for writ of quo warranto.

On May 5, 2004, Baird found "Terri's Law" unconstitutional, and struck it down. Bush appealed this order to the Second District Court of Appeals, but on May 12, 2004, the court issued an "Order Relinquishing Case for Entry of Final Judgment and Order to Show Cause Why this Proceeding Should Not be Certified to the Supreme Court As Requiring Immediate Resolution". The Second District Court of Appeals, in sending it directly to the Florida Supreme Court, invoked "pass through" jurisdiction.

The Florida Supreme Court then overturned the law as unconstitutional.

Early 2005 motions
On February 23, 2005, the Schindlers filed a motion for relief from judgment pending medical evaluations. The Schindlers wanted Schiavo to be tested with an fMRI and given a swallowing therapy called VitalStim. The motion was accompanied by thirty-three affidavits from doctors in several specialties, speech-language pathologists and therapists, and a few neuropsychologists, all urging that new tests be undertaken. Patricia Fields Anderson, the Schindler family attorney, still held out hope "that Terri might be able to take nourishment orally, despite past findings that she is incapable". Judge Greer formally denied the motion and ordered the "removal of nutrition and hydration from the ward" and set the time and date for the removal of the feeding tube as "1:00 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2005".

On February 28, 2005, the Schindlers filed a motion, asking for permission to attempt to provide Schiavo with "Food and Water by Natural Means". This second motion asked for permission to "attempt to feed" Schiavo by mouth. Judge Greer denied the second motion on March 8, saying "it has become clear that the second motion is part and parcel of the previous motion on medical evaluations. The same declarations are being used for both motions and the motion appears to be an alternative pleading to the previous motion. Both are asking for an experimental procedure." The following day, Greer denied the first motion as well, citing that an affiant doctor for Michael cautioned that fMRI was an experimental procedure that should be conducted in an academic setting, because Schiavo had already undergone swallowing tests and failed, and because VitalStim had only been performed on patients who were not in a PVS. Greer noted that "most of the doctor affidavits submitted are based on their understanding of Schiavo's condition from news reports or video clips they have seen. Many are obviously not aware of the medical exams undertaken for the 2002 trial."

Following Greer's order on March 18, 2005, to remove the feeding tube, Republicans in the United States Congress subpoenaed both Michael and Terri Schiavo to testify at a congressional hearing. Greer told congressional attorneys, "I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene." He also stated that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.

Palm Sunday Compromise
President George W. Bush and Congressional Republicans anticipated Greer's adverse ruling well before it was delivered and worked on a daily basis to find an alternative means of overturning the legal process by utilizing the authority of the United States Congress. On March 20, 2005, the Senate, by unanimous consent, passed their version of a relief bill; since the vote was taken by voice vote, there was no official tally of those voting in favor and those opposed. Soon after Senate approval, the House of Representatives passed an identical version of the bill S.686, which came to be called the "Palm Sunday Compromise" and transferred jurisdiction of the Schiavo case to the federal courts. The bill passed the House on March 21, 2005, at 12:41 a.m. (UTC−5). Bush flew to Washington, D.C. from his vacation in Texas in order to sign the bill into law at 1:11 a.m.

While the bill had been proposed by Republican Senators Rick Santorum and Mel Martínez, it also had the support of Democratic Senator Tom Harkin due to disability rights concerns in the Schiavo case. Harkin had worked with disability rights groups for years and co-authored the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. American disability rights groups traditionally tend to ally themselves with Democrats and the political left; however, in the Schiavo case, they joined pro-life organizations in opposing the removal of her feeding tube and supporting the Palm Sunday Compromise. According to Marilyn Golden, Harkin's support was necessary for passage of the bill, as any voice opposition by Democrats would have delayed it.

As in the state courts, all of the Schindlers' federal petitions and appeals were denied, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari, effectively ending the Schindlers' judicial options. At the same time, the so-called Schiavo memo surfaced, causing a political firestorm. The memo was written by Brian Darling, the legal counsel to Florida Republican senator Mel Martínez. It suggested the Schiavo case offered "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's base (core supporters) and could be used against Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill. Nelson easily won re-election in 2006.

Republican majority leader and physician Bill Frist opposed the removal of her feeding tube and in a speech delivered on the Senate floor, challenged the diagnosis of Schiavo's physicians of Schiavo being in a persistent vegetative state (PVS): "I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office." After her death, the autopsy showed signs of long-term and irreversible damage to her brain consistent with PVS. Frist defended his actions after the autopsy.

Final local motions, death, autopsy, and burial
On March 24, 2005, Judge Greer denied a petition for intervention by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and signed an order forbidding the department from "taking possession of Theresa Marie Schiavo or removing her" from the hospice and directed "each and every and singular sheriff of the state of Florida" to enforce his order. The order was appealed to the Second District Court of Appeals the following day, which resulted in an automatic stay under state law. While the stay was in effect, Florida Department of Law Enforcement personnel prepared to take custody of Terri Schiavo and transfer her to a local hospital for reinsertion of the feeding tube. Once Greer was made aware of the stay, he ordered it lifted and all parties stood down. Governor Bush decided to obey the court order despite enormous pressure from the political right. If Bush (or the Florida Legislature) had ignored Greer's order by attempting to remove her from the hospice, a confrontation between the Pinellas Park Police Department and the FDLE agents could have ensued. In jest, one official said local police discussed "whether we had enough officers to hold off the National Guard."

Terri Schiavo died at a Pinellas Park hospice on March 31, 2005.

Autopsy
Schiavo's body was taken to the Office of the District 6 Medical Examiner for Pinellas and Pasco counties, based in Largo, Florida. The autopsy was conducted on April 1, 2005, and revealed extensive brain damage. The manner of death was certified as "undetermined." The autopsy was led by Chief Medical Examiner Jon R. Thogmartin. In addition to consultation with a neuropathologist (Stephen J. Nelson), Thogmartin also arranged for specialized cardiac and genetic examinations to be made. The official autopsy report was released on June 15, 2005. In addition to studying Terri Schiavo's remains, Thogmartin scoured court, medical and other records and interviewed her family members, doctors and other relevant parties. Examination of Schiavo's nervous system by neuropathologist Stephen J. Nelson, revealed extensive injury. The brain itself weighed only 615 g, only half the weight expected for a female of her age, height, and weight, due to the loss of a massive number of neurons. Microscopic examination revealed extensive damage to nearly all brain regions, including the cerebral cortex, the thalamus, the basal ganglia, the hippocampus, the cerebellum, and the midbrain. The neuropathologic changes in her brain were precisely of the type seen in patients who enter a PVS following cardiac arrest. Throughout the cerebral cortex, the large pyramidal neurons that comprise some 70% of cortical cells – critical to the functioning of the cortex – were completely lost. The pattern of damage to the cortex, with injury tending to worsen from the front of the cortex to the back, was also typical. There was marked damage to important relay circuits deep in the brain (the thalamus) – another common pathologic finding in cases of PVS. The damage was, in the words of Thogmartin, "irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."

The cardiac pathologist who studied Schiavo's heart found it and the coronary vessels to be healthy, which excludes the possibility that her initial collapse was the result of myocardial infarction, although there was a localized area of healed inflammation (opening the possibility of myocarditis). Thogmartin found that "there was no proof that Terri Schiavo ever had an eating disorder such as bulimia." Regarding the possibility of strangulation or domestic violence as a cause of Schiavo's initial collapse, the report states: "No trauma was noted on any of the numerous physical exams or radiographs performed on Mrs. Schiavo on the day of, in the days after, or in the months after her initial collapse. Indeed, within an hour of her initial hospital admission, radiographic examination of her cervical spine was negative. Specifically, external signs of strangulation including cutaneous or deep neck injury, facial/conjunctival petechiae, and other blunt trauma were not observed or recorded during her initial hospital admission. Autopsy examination of her neck structures 15 years after her initial collapse did not detect any signs of remote trauma, but, with such a delay, the exam was unlikely to show any residual neck findings."

Regarding the cause and manner of Schiavo's death, Thogmartin wrote, "Mrs. Schiavo suffered severe anoxic brain injury. The cause of which cannot be determined with reasonable medical certainty. The manner of death will therefore be certified as undetermined."

Burial

Schiavo's body was cremated. Her parents organized a memorial Mass for her at the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Gulfport on April 5, 2005. Father Frank Pavone, the founder of the Priests for Life anti-abortion organization, delivered the homily.

Michael Schiavo had his wife's cremated remains interred in a cemetery on June 20, 2005. The Schindlers' attorney stated that the family was notified by fax only after the memorial service; by then, the family had already started getting calls from reporters. The ashes were interred at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida.

The epitaph (pictured) reads:

Schiavo / Theresa Marie / Beloved Wife Born December 3, 1963 Departed this Earth / February 25, 1990 At peace March 31, 2005 [Dove with olive branch image] I kept my promise

Right to die
The Schiavo case has been compared to the Karen Ann Quinlan case and Nancy Cruzan case, two landmark right-to-die cases. Quinlan entered a persistent vegetative state in 1975, and her family was allowed to remove her from a ventilator in 1976 after a ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court based on her right of privacy. She died of pneumonia in 1985. Cruzan was diagnosed with PVS in 1983 and her legal case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that "clear and convincing evidence" of her wishes to die under such circumstances was needed. Cruzan's family did not have enough evidence of that, but later produced more. She died after being removed from life support in 1990.

The "Terri Schiavo case" actually refers to a series of cases. It differed from the Quinlan and Cruzan cases by involving settled law rather than breaking new legal ground on the right-to-die issue. In 2006, Professor Lois Shepherd, PhD JD, states it was "unclear" whether the Schiavo case represents a landmark decision. The Terri Schiavo affair involved a dispute between family members and her legal guardian over her wishes when there is no documented desire. According to medical ethicist Matthew Stonecipher, "The movement to challenge the decisions made for Terri Schiavo threatened to destabilize end-of-life law that had developed over the last quarter of the 20th century, principally through the cases of Karen Ann Quinlan and Nancy Cruzan." The outcome of the Schiavo case was also in part determined by a 1990 Florida case, Guardianship of Estelle Browning. In that case, attorney George Felos, representing a Browning relative, successfully argued that Browning's feeding tube should be removed before the Florida Supreme Court. The elderly Browning had expressed, in a living will, her wish not to be kept alive by any artificial means, including receiving food and water "by a gastric tube or intravenously." At that time, it was common to remove people from ventilators, but the law in Florida was not clear on removing them from feeding tubes. In a landmark ruling, the Florida Supreme Court decided that Browning had "the constitutional right to choose or refuse medical treatment, and that right extends to all relevant decisions concerning one's health."

Disability rights
During the years of legal proceedings, disability rights groups and activists closely monitored and involved themselves in the case. In March 2003, twelve disability rights groups, led by Not Dead Yet, along with four other amici filed an amicus curiae brief in which they opposed the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. They also used the Schiavo case to advocate for federal review in cases where third parties decide to withdraw life support from patients unable to give consent. They argued that persistent vegetative state is frequently misdiagnosed, and that the reasons for withdrawal of life support from a patient should be scrutinized since even family member surrogates can have conflicts of interest. The Palm Sunday Compromise granted the federal review they sought, but it was limited to only the Schiavo case.

Public opinion and activism
The seven-year case generated a great deal of public attention and activism. There was extensive media coverage and both sides courted public opinion. In 2000, the Schindlers created the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation to garner support. During the weeks when Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in 2005, activists kept up an around-the-clock vigil outside her hospice. The protests were described as loud but non-violent. There were dozens of arrests, with most being for crossing a police line with water for Schiavo.

Two polls conducted shortly after Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for the final time in 2005 showed that a large majority of Americans believed that Michael Schiavo should have had the authority to make decisions on behalf of his wife and that the U.S. Congress overstepped its bounds with its intervention in the case.

Developments since Schiavo's death
Since Terri Schiavo's death in March 2005, her family and Michael Schiavo have clashed a number of times. Each side has also worked to promote their own causes related to the case. In April 2005, the families disagreed over Schiavo's burial. The Schindlers had wanted her body to be buried in Florida, while Michael Schiavo said at the time that he would cremate her body and then have her ashes buried in her home state of Pennsylvania. In June 2005, however, Schiavo's ashes were buried in Florida instead. The words "I kept my promise" were included on the marker, referring to his promise to follow what he said was her wish not to be kept alive artificially. The statement angered the Schindlers.

In December 2005, Michael Schiavo created a political action committee, TerriPAC. It was formed to raise money to support right-to-die candidates and oppose candidates who had voted for government involvement in the Schiavo case. In 2007, TerriPAC paid a $1,350 fine to the Federal Election Commission for failing to file complete and timely records. Schiavo shut down the PAC later that year.

The Schindlers continued operation of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, with a new goal of helping individuals in situations similar to Terri's. In April 2010, Michael Schiavo charged that the Schindlers were improperly using Terri's name, as he held the rights to it, and that the family was using the foundation in order to make money. A Florida television station looked at the foundation's tax records and found that for 2008, it paid 64% of the $91,568 it raised in salaries to Terri's father, Robert Schindler Sr., her sister, Suzanne Vitadamo, and her brother, Robert Schindler Jr. Their attorney said the foundation does its work effectively and that the high percentage for salaries was due to the small amount of money the foundation raises. He also said that the Schindlers had the right to use Terri's name as she is a public figure. The foundation had been fined $1,000 shortly before Schiavo's death for failing to file timely paperwork. In September 2010, the Schindlers renamed the organization the "Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network". (Page headers in the web publication show the name change occurred in 2010, compare volume 1 to 2 for 2010)

In 2006, both Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers released books telling their sides of the story. Schiavo's was called Terri: The Truth, while the Schindlers' was titled A Life that Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo – A Lesson for Us All.

Despite the extended emotion-laden legal struggle, the case broke no new legal ground: it remains settled law that the spouse is the next of kin in decisions where the patient is incompetent. However, it is now more generally recognized that the next of kin's decisions should be carried out in a timely fashion, even on matters of life and death. The case has raised public awareness of the value of having an advance medical directive.

At the ten-year anniversary of Schiavo's death, several news sources offered retrospectives on the case, some still attempting to explain how this particular case became so notable.

Schiavo memo
During the Terri Schiavo case in March 2005, a talking points memo on the controversy was written by Brian Darling, the legal counsel to Republican Senator Mel Martínez of Florida. The memo suggested the Schiavo case offered "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's base and could be used against Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida who was up for reelection in 2006, because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill which came to be known as the Palm Sunday Compromise.

Martínez stated that he had not read the memo before he inadvertently passed it to Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a Democratic supporter of the Palm Sunday Compromise legislation which gave federal courts jurisdiction to review the Terri Schiavo case.

After the existence of the memo was reported by ABC News and The Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist denounced the memo and asserted that the Republican Party's interest in the case was solely based on moral grounds. Darling remained silent about his authorship of the memo as commentators from the conservative magazine Weekly Standard and other publications questioned its authenticity. The source of the memo had not been disclosed by either ABC News or The Washington Post. The Washington Post says that it neither implied that the memo originated from a Republican source nor that it was circulated by Republicans, though it did in fact make these assertions when it published the story by reporters Mike Allen and Manuel Roig-Franzia on its wire service on March 19, 2005. The authorship claim was removed before publication of the print version on March 20, 2005. On April 6, 2005, Darling admitted to writing the memo, and resigned his position as legal counsel to Senator Martínez.

title: Terri Schiavo case


text:
Sami Hyypiä

Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (born 7 October 1973) is a Finnish professional football manager and a former player who played as a centre-back.

Hyypiä began his playing career with Ykkönen side Kumu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He spent four years at the club, helping them win the Finnish Cup in 1992 and 1995. He moved to Willem II in 1995 and spent the next four years there. He became the team captain and was nominated their player of the year after helping them qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

In 1999, he moved to Liverpool, the team he supported as a child, in a deal worth £2.6 million. He quickly established himself in the first team, partnering Stéphane Henchoz in defence. By 2001, he regularly captained the team and that season Liverpool won a slew of honours, completing a cup treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup, in addition to winning the UEFA Super Cup and FA Community Shield. He became first choice captain in the 2001–02 season and was part of the Football League Cup-winning team in 2003. Steven Gerrard superseded him as captain in 2003, but Hyypiä still occasionally captained the side in his absence. Hyypiä won his highest football honour in 2005 as part of Liverpool's victorious 2004–05 Champions League campaign, where his defensive partnership with Jamie Carragher helped them win in the final. During his ten years in Merseyside, he became a fan favourite and remains a popular figure at the club. From 2009 to 2011, Hyypiä played for German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, where he retired as a player in 2011.

Hyypiä was a prominent figure in the Finland national team and was selected as the Finnish Sports' Journalists and Football Association Player of the Year numerous times. He made his debut in 1992 and, with 105 caps before retiring in 2010, is the country's third most capped Finnish player after Jari Litmanen and Teemu Pukki.

From the 2012–13 season, he returned to Bayer Leverkusen as its full team manager. After two successful seasons in the Bundesliga, he returned to English football in 2014 for a brief spell as manager of now Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion. From August 2015 to May 2016, he was manager of Swiss club Zürich.

Hyypiä was named in the Finnish Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.

Early life
Hyypiä was born in Porvoo and raised in Kuusankoski, Finland, 100 mi north-east of Helsinki, the son of Irma and Jouko Hyypiä. Hyypiä's parents were both footballers – his father Jouko played for Finnish team Pallo Peikot, while his mother played as an amateur goalkeeper. Although the young Sami played ice hockey, one of the more popular sports in Finland, his parents' influence was important in him choosing a career in football; he later commented, "I guess there was only one career option for me."

Early career
Hyypiä started his career with Pallo-Peikot, where he played every position except his final position of defender and KuMu, before joining Veikkausliiga club MyPa for the 1992 season. He won the Finnish Cup with MyPa in 1992, when Jari Litmanen was one of his teammates, and again in 1995.

In 1995, at the age of 22, he went for a trial at Newcastle United, his first taste of English football. Hyypiä said: "They [Newcastle] certainly helped my career. I had a two-week trial in 1995 under Kevin Keegan and it gave me an insight into English football. I was a young player in Finland and I didn't really expect it to lead to anything. I just went for the experience, but it was good experience and I enjoyed my time there. It helped me a lot at the time to see a big English club at close hand and I always look forward to going back."

Willem II
Later that year, Hyypiä joined Dutch club Willem II and spent four years with the Eredivisie team, soon becoming a favourite with the fans and winning their player of the year award in his final season. Hyypiä captained the side to qualification for the UEFA Champions League, thus earning a place in the hearts of supporters although he would not be taking part in the campaign.

Liverpool
In May 1999, Hyypiä was signed by Liverpool, the team he supported as a boy, for £2.6 million, having been recommended to former chief executive Peter Robinson by a TV cameraman. Initially, Hyypiä was regarded as an unknown who would not live up to expectations, but this preconception was dismissed when he immediately formed a successful central defensive partnership with fellow arrival Stéphane Henchoz. Almost ten years later in a farewell tribute to Hyypiä, Ron Yeats, then the chief scout for Liverpool, commented that the deal was "one of the best bits of business we've done over the years… a steal – a bargain…" Fourteen years on, Hyypiä himself told the BBC that joining Liverpool was a dream come true. In the 2000–01 season, Hyypiä shared the captaincy of Liverpool with Robbie Fowler while Jamie Redknapp, the full-time captain, was suffering from a long-term injury. During that season, Hyypiä and Fowler led the team to a cup treble: the Football League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. He also went on to claim a "treble" of three consecutive FAF Finnish Footballer of the Year awards from 2001 to 2003.

In 2002, Hyypiä became first choice Liverpool captain after Redknapp, who had been blighted by long-term injuries, and Fowler both left the club. However, after such a bright start to his Liverpool career came a relative lull and in 2003, Hyypiä was replaced as Liverpool captain by Steven Gerrard. With some of the pressure lifted, his performances generally improved.

On 5 April 2003, Hyypiä received a red card against Manchester United, the only red of his club career. "[Ruud] Van Nistelrooy was going through and maybe I took his shirt a little bit. The referee thought so. I got a straight red card. They got a penalty. It was an agony to watch the game in the dressing room. The only red card of my career. You remember that sort of thing."

In 2004, new Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez moved Jamie Carragher from fullback to partner Hyypiä in central defence. This seemingly reinvigorated Hyypiä and the team went on to have a successful season, winning the 2004–05 Champions League on the back of their solid defence. On 10 August 2005, it was reported that Hyypiä had agreed to a new three-year contract after weeks of talks with the Reds which would keep him at Anfield until 2008.

During the 2005–06 season, Hyypiä was relegated to third-choice captain after Jamie Carragher's ascent as Gerrard's deputy on the field. In the FA Cup sixth round against Birmingham City, he scored the opening goal in the first minute as the Reds thrashed the home team 7–0. He started in the victorious 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham United, though he missed his spot kick in the penalty shoot-out. During the season, he climbed into the top 25 in the club's all-time appearances table after featuring in the League Cup against Arsenal in January 2007.

Despite speculation in the summer of 2007 linking him to various other Premier League teams, Hyypiä insisted that he would stay at Liverpool for the remainder of his contract. On 25 August 2007, Hyypiä broke his nose during an away match against Sunderland in the Stadium of Light. He quickly returned on the pitch to play against Toulouse in the Champions League qualifying match on 28 August 2007, in which he scored the second goal for Liverpool while wearing the captain's armband in the absence of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

In April 2008, Hyypiä signed a new deal until summer 2009, with Benítez stating he is a good role model for young defenders such as Martin Škrtel and Daniel Agger. The 2008–09 season marked the defender's tenth season at the club. On 22 August 2008, Premier League newcomers Stoke City offered £2.5 million for Hyypiä, but Liverpool rejected the offer. On 2 March 2008, with his appearance against Bolton Wanderers, Hyypiä made it into the top 20 Liverpool player appearances of all time.

Hyypiä was voted in 19th place in Sky Sports' "Top 50 Premier League Foreign Players", 45th in FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Foreign Players and 38th in Liverpool's 100 Players Who Shook the Kop survey. Underlining the important role Hyypiä had fulfilled at Liverpool, Ian Rush noted: "He's got to be up there with the best signings the club has ever made."

In September 2008, Hyypiä was not included in the 25-man Liverpool squad for the group stages of the Champions League, as new UEFA regulations meant that clubs had to include at least eight home-grown players in their squad.

On 4 May 2009, it was announced that Hyypiä had signed two-year contract with German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Liverpool had offered him the chance to stay at Anfield in a coaching capacity, but Hyypiä decided to carry on playing, though he expressed interest in returning to Liverpool as a coach once his playing career concluded.

Hyypiä played his last match for Liverpool at Anfield against Tottenham Hotspur on 24 May 2009, coming on as a substitute to replace captain Steven Gerrard after 84 minutes in their 3–1 win. Gerrard passed the captain's armband to him, personally putting it onto Hyypiä's arm. During what remained of the match, Hyypiä managed to get a header from a corner kick in the dying minutes of the game, but the attempt was blocked by Heurelho Gomes. After the match ended, an emotional Hyypiä received a standing ovation from Liverpool fans and his teammates held him aloft. Hyypiä made 464 appearances and scored 35 goals, winning ten trophies in the ten years he was at Liverpool.

Bayer Leverkusen
Hyypiä moved to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen during summer 2009, making his official debut on 8 August against Mainz 05. On 24 January 2010, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 3–0 win over 1899 Hoffenheim. Hyypiä's first season with Bayer Leverkusen saw his club finishing fourth overall, missing by two points the qualification round for the 2010–11 Champions League campaign. German sports magazine kicker chose Hyypiä as best Bundesliga defender in 2009, and he was included Bundesliga Team of the Year for 2009–10.

After Roy Hodgson was appointed as the new Liverpool manager in August 2010, rumours began to circulate that he was determined to bring Hyypiä back to Liverpool. However, the transfer fell through as reportedly Hodgson could not get Hyypiä out of his contract with Leverkusen. On 25 September 2010, Hyypiä scored his third ever Bundesliga goal with a header against VfB Stuttgart in a 4–1 win.

Hyypiä made public on 6 October 2010 that, post-retirement, he planned to join Leverkusen as assistant manager. On 2 May 2011, he announced his retirement from playing professional football. Hyypiä appeared in more than 560 top-flight matches in Finland, the Netherlands, England and Germany.

International career
Hyypiä was capped 27 times by the Finland national under-21 team. He made his debut for the senior team against Tunisia on 7 November 1992 at the age of 19. He went on to be a key member of the Finnish squad, participating in five UEFA European Championship and four FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In a friendly against Sweden on 12 August 2009, he became one of four Finland national team players ever to reach milestone of 100 international appearances. Hyypiä succeeded Jari Litmanen as captain of the Finland national team in 2008. He was given a straight red card in his penultimate match for a 36th-minute foul on Viorel Frunza as Finland lost 2–0 away to Moldova in a qualifier. His last appearance for national team was against Hungary in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier on 12 October 2010, a 2–1 home defeat.

With a total of 105 matches, Hyypiä ranks in the summer of 2023 as third among all-time most capped Finnish players; only Jari Litmanen and Teemu Pukki has been capped more.

Bayer Leverkusen
Hyypiä became part of the coaching staff for both Finland national team and Bayer Leverkusen. He started a coaching formation at the Football Association of Finland. In October 2011, Hyypiä was in Leverkusen for six weeks as a trainee with the club's then-head coach, Robin Dutt. On 1 April 2012, Hyypiä and under-19 coach Sascha Lewandowski were named as caretaker coaches of Leverkusen after the sacking of Dutt. On 15 May 2012, Hyypiä was confirmed as team manager and Lewandowski as head coach of Bayer Leverkusen until the summer of 2015. In an unusual managerial set-up, both were equally responsible for leading Bayer Leverkusen: as Lewandowski had the training licence, he had to be at post-match press conferences and took care of the training sessions. Meanwhile, Hyypiä watched them, intervened with personal talks and was at the pre-game press conferences. Despite his imperfect grasp of the German language, Hyypiä addressed the team before matches. This system proved successful: in the middle of the 2012–13 season, Leverkusen was second in the Bundesliga, were the only side to beat Bayern Munich at home and qualified for the next round in the Champions League, and the DFB-Pokal. Bayer Leverkusen ended the 2012–13 season in third place behind the champions Bayern and runners-up Borussia Dortmund. Hyypiä became the sole head coach after Lewandowski went back to work with the youth development department.

Hyypiä's first training session as the sole head coach occurred on 24 June 2013. Bayer Leverkusen ended the 2013–14 season in fourth place, behind Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. On 5 April 2014, Hyypiä was sacked by Bayer Leverkusen with immediate effect after the club lost to Hamburger SV the night before.

Brighton & Hove Albion
On 6 June 2014, Hyypiä was officially named manager of Football League Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion, signing a three-year contract. His reign as Brighton boss started with two successive 1–0 defeats, before tasting victory in his third game in charge. Results were poor, and on 22 December 2014, with the team in the relegation zone, Hyypiä offered his resignation as manager after a 1–1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers; Brighton chairman Tony Bloom announced that Hyypiä's resignation was reluctantly accepted. Hyypiä's decision to step down came after his side only managed one win in their previous 18 games, with the club securing six victories in his 26 in charge, three of which came in cup ties.

Zürich
On 21 August 2015, Hyypiä was officially announced as the manager of the Swiss Super League club Zürich. On 12 May 2016, Hyypiä was sacked as coach of Zürich after he had lost a vote of no confidence in the team. He left the club in last place with three rounds before the end of the season; Zürich were ultimately relegated to the Swiss second division, the Swiss Challenge League.

Haka
After taking a break from the game, he joined Finnish side Haka in 2020 as assistant manager, but left after just three months.

Personal life
In 2002, Hyypiä released an autobiography, From Voikkaa to the Premiership.

Hyypiä was married to Susanna between 2007 and 2022, when the couple divorced. He has two sons from his first marriage. Off the pitch, he is generally a private person and, although his ex-wife had been occasionally seen at his matches, their children rarely appear in public. He lived with his family near Pulheim near Cologne and had an English second home because of his time as manager of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Since 2021, Hyypiä has been dating Finnish racing driver Emma Kimiläinen.

Hyypiä has set up a fund to help young promising athletes of his native Finland. As part of his efforts to raise funds, he participated in the Helsinki City Marathon, his first ever, on 20 August 2011, completing the course in a time of 3:56:09.

Hyypiä was named in the Finnish Sports Hall of Fame on 11 January 2024.

International

 * Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hyypiä goal.

Managerial statistics

 * 1.Sami Hyypiä and Sascha Lewandowski were both in-charge of the first team.
 * 2.Sascha Lewandowski left the first team to go back to work with the youth team. Hyypiä's first training session was on 12 March 2013.

Honours
MyPa
 * Finnish Cup: 1992, 1995

Liverpool
 * FA Cup: 2000–01, 2005–06
 * Football League Cup: 2000–01, 2002–03; runner-up 2004–05
 * FA Charity/Community Shield: 2001, 2006
 * UEFA Champions League: 2004–05; runner-up 2006–07
 * UEFA Cup: 2000–01
 * UEFA Super Cup: 2001, 2005
 * FIFA Club World Championship runner-up: 2005

Finland
 * Nordic Football Championship: 2000–01

Individual
 * UEFA Team of the Year: 2001
 * ESM Team of the Year: 2000–01
 * Liverpool Player of the Season: 2001–02
 * Finnish Sportsperson of the Year: 2001
 * Premier League Player of the Month: November 1999
 * PFA Team of the Year: 1999–2000 Premier League, 2001–02 Premier League
 * Finnish Sports Hall of Fame
 * Finnish Footballer of the Year: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
 * kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2009–10
 * UEFA awards 100 caps: 2011

title: Sami Hyypiä