The Beehive Tombstone (aka The Grimm Grave Marker)

The Beehive Tombstone (aka The Grimm Grave Marker)

Near the center of a small church cemetery approximately 2 miles east of Jefferson, Wisconsin, on Highway 18 stands a stone obelisk atop a base with several carvings on its faces. The most prominent and eye-catching of the engravings is a large straw beehive with a detailed honeycomb inside, encircled by the German phrase Das kostlichste seines lebens war muhe und arbeit, roughly translating to “the most precious thing in his life was effort and…