While most place names in our country are lost in the obscurity of history or in the darkness of prehistory, it is different with the holiday area "Marielyst" on the east coast of Falster. It has its origins in the fact that there was a man who was happy with his wife. Around the year 1900, the area was owned by a man, a farmer, whose wife was called Marie, and he named his property after her. That the area has grown much larger over the years is another story. In 1906, what gradually developed into the Marielyst we know began.

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Inside Nykøbing F. sat an imaginative and enterprising man, senior barrister Frederik Graae. He saw the possibilities that lay out there. He bought the old farmhouse and converted it into a seaside hotel, which has now become a boarding school. The senior barrister had good connections in Copenhagen, not least in artistic circles, and a number of well-known artists of the time soon found their way to Marielyst.

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Names such as the painter Olav Rude, the actors Clara Pontoppidan, Johannes Meyer and not least Henrik Malberg, who maintained his connection with Marielyst throughout his life, can be mentioned.

Holger Drachmann can also be mentioned in this context. The house where his "muse" Edith lived for a while still stands. Now there is a campsite. Gradually, more and more people realized that one of Denmark's best beaches was here, just 12 km southeast of Nykøbing F. Of course, people in the city had known about it for many years, but only now did they really start to take advantage of it, and primitive summer houses appeared. More and more people from the big city also found their way here and from other places in the country, and development took off. Now we have a summer house area that stretches uninterrupted from Elkenøre in the north to Bøtø in the south, inhabited by thousands of people throughout the summer, from Denmark and abroad. Against this background, a problem naturally arose for the Danish People's Church. The church had to be where people are. And no one was closer to seeing the problem than the parish priest in Væggerløse. And he did. His name was Hakon Fog.

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In the early 1940s, the idea matured in Hakon Fog that a beach church should be built in the middle of this summer land. It was a long way from Marielyst to Væggerløse Church. This was before motoring really took off and even during the war. In 1943, Hakon Fog had a small committee of people from Væggerløse set up, and the parish council was approached, where the plans for a beach church were presented. However, without result. There was no money in the coffers, neither to build nor maintain a beach church. There was probably not much interest or understanding for the matter either.

Several years would pass before the parish council took a more positive view of the matter. Fog realised that the church project needed a different approach. Private initiative had to play a part. And so the project made a fresh start. In the summer of 1944, an open-air meeting was held at the home of one of the summer house owners, where Pastor Fog shared his ideas. They were well received, and things began to move forward. A new committee was formed, consisting partly of members of the original committee, supplemented by people from Nykøbing F. They then set about raising money. A considerable sum was needed, even for a modest beach church.

The financial foundation was laid at a large summer fête at “Nørrevang”, whose owner, Thora Riisgaard, was very active on the committee. The event raised approximately 30,000 kroner, a substantial sum in 1946. Among the raffle prizes was a car, which was something new at the time. It was a promising start, but the old saying “well begun is half done” did not hold true here, as work more or less came to a standstill. There were several reasons for this. Much effort had gone into the summer fête, and those involved probably felt the need to catch their breath and rest on their laurels. Furthermore, the chairman, Pastor Fog, left Væggerløse to take up a new parish appointment in Southern Jutland. Without wishing to belittle anyone else’s contribution, he had been the driving force behind the committee, and his absence was naturally felt. Among other things, a new chairman had to be found, and that took time.

When the new chairman, CO Tscherning Møller, had come to the demanding work in a large city parish, where work was also being done on the church plan, it took quite a long time before the work really got underway. Yes, it only happened when a new bishop also arrived. Bishop Halfdan Høgsbro showed great interest in the church cause. He became chairman and actively participated in the work and became an invaluable help. During the years 1954-59, so much money was collected through collections, events and gifts that, together with the approx. 30,000 kroner from the aforementioned summer festival in 1946, it was fully justified to start building the church.

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On December 19, 1957, the foundation stone was laid at a small ceremony, and on June 28, 1959, the church was consecrated by Bishop Høgsbro. It was designed by architect Albert Pedersen, Nykøbing F., and the master bricklayer was Ottar Nielsen, Marielyst. A church bell was donated by the shipping company AP Møller. It hangs in a bell tower next to the church. Master stonemason Axel Schiøler donated a beautiful baptismal font and plumber Andersen made a baptismal dish in nickel silver. Middelboe Outzen donated the church's nave. The chandeliers were designed by Albert Pedersen. The church cost approximately 85,000 kroner, of which 60,000 kroner was available. Today, the church is debt-free.

Originally, the idea was that the church would be located near Marielyst Torv, where they had a plot of land on hand. However, it did not come to fruition, and that was very good, because in those years the development to the south in the Bøtø area was growing very rapidly, so if the church was to be located roughly in the middle of the entire summer house area, it would have to be located further south. They searched and found a suitable plot of land and bought it for 7,500 kroner.

The original idea that the Strandkirken should be an annex church to Væggerløse, i.e. be economically and administratively part of the Væggerløse Pastorate, never came to fruition. This means that from its inauguration the church was an independent institution, affiliated with the Danish Folk Church and with the Landemode of the diocese as the supreme authority, but financially it rests on its own and receives no support from the state.

This is also the case when the Strandkirken has now stood in Marielyst for 60 years. When the church bought an organ in 1987, it was financed with a loan from the diocese, but it has long since been repaid and a larger organ has since been moved from Nordre Kirke in Nykøbing F. to the Strandkirken. Something the congregation enjoys and benefits from during the summer.

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Financial support for the life and growth of the church is at the top of the wish list. The Strandkirken lives on generous donations that come from various sources, from the parish council, from banks, from a support group, from the annual birthday party and from what is put in the church's collection boxes at church services. When the bell tower needed serious repair a few years ago, the costs were covered by the AP Møller Foundation for general purposes. A tool shed has been built behind the church to store chairs and tables, which are used for outdoor events such as the birthday party.

The Strandkirken is busy. During the 3 summer months, services are held every Sunday - often with baptisms, and the Strandkirken has always received great help from the local priests. They have made themselves available willingly and without payment. The service as choirmaster and church servant is carried out by members of the church committee and others who feel connected to the work. In addition, several weddings and baptisms are held, and a number of concerts are also held from time to time.

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For many years, the Strandkirken has been happy to provide shelter to the German Evangelical Land Church, which holds services for the many German summer guests who come to Marielyst every year. It is a good and rewarding collaboration, which in recent years has also meant that an annual Danish-German service has been held.

About the future, one can only hope and wish. That there will still be a need for the Beach Church at Marielyst cannot be discussed. As long as the summer country is populated by people, the church must be there, so that people do not live by bread alone, or by water and sunshine, but by the word of the living God. Then we must hope that this word may be preached in spirit and truth and received and believed.