Gornja Radgona (; german: Oberradkersburg, hu, Felsőregede) is a town in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. It is the seat of the

Municipality of Gornja Radgona The Municipality of Gornja Radgona (; sl, Občina Gornja Radgona) a Municipalities of Slovenia, municipality in Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Gornja Radgona. Settlements In addition to the municipal seat of Gornja Radgon ...

. Once it was a defensive stronghold for today's regional centre and its twin city,

Bad Radkersburg Bad Radkersburg (; sl, Radgona; archaic hu, RegedeDivald, Kornél. 1931. ''Old Hungarian Art''. London: Oxford University Press, p. 117.) is a spa town in the southeast of the Austrian state of Styria, in the district of Südoststeiermark. G ...

, on the other side of the

Mura River The Mur () or Mura (; ; ; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Müra''Novak, Vilko. 2006. ''Slovar stare knjižne prekmurščine''. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, pp. 262, 269. or ''Möra'') is a river in Central Europe rising in the Hohe Tauern national park of th ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. The towns were split in 1919, when the state of Styria was divided between Austria and Slovenia. They afterward developed separately, and Gornja Radgona grew into a new town centre.

History

Traces of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

settlement on Castle Hill attest to settlement during the

Urnfield culture The Urnfield culture ( 1300 BC – 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and p ...

. Later finds indicate that there may have been a small

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

settlement here. The Parish of Gornja Radgona belonged to the

Diocese of Salzburg The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg ( la, Archidioecesis Salisburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, serving alongside the Archdiocese of ...

and was founded under the

Spanheim The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a medieval German noble family, which originated in Rhenish Franconia. They were immediate Counts of Sponheim until 1437 and Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269. Its cadet branches ruled in the Imperial ...

s in the first half of the 12th century. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in Gornja Radgona is dedicated to

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

and was built in 1813 and extended in 1890. The history of Gornja Radgona itself reaches back to the 12th century, when a settlement was established beneath Ratigoj Castle. King

Albert I of Habsburg Albert I of Habsburg (german: Albrecht I.) (July 12551 May 1308) was a Duke of Austria and Styria from 1282 and King of Germany from 1298 until his assassination. He was the eldest son of King Rudolf I of Germany and his first wife Gertrude ...

founded today's Radkersburg on an island in the Mura River, and it was mentioned as a market in 1265 and as a town in 1299. Eventually the old settlement turned into a suburb of the town. Gornja Radgona was built on the slope of Castle Hill (265 m) and the tip of the

Slovene Hills The Slovene Hills or the Slovenian Hills ( sl, Slovenske gorice, german: Windische Bühel or ) is the largest hilly region of Slovenia, a smaller part is located in the Austrian province of Styria. It is situated in the northeast of the country and ...

( sl, Slovenske gorice), which separate the

Apače Basin Apače (; german: Abstall) is a town in Slovenia and it is located on the border between Slovenia and Austria. It is the seat of the Municipality of Apače, which is the northernmost municipality in the traditional region of Slovenian Styria. I ...

from the

Mura Basin Mura may refer to: Places * Mura (Drava), a tributary of the Drava in Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia * Mura (Angara), a tributary of the Angara in Russia * Mura, Lombardy, a ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia, Italy * Mura, Barcelon ...

. Because of its important location on the Mura River, in the 12th and 13th centuries Gornja Radgona and Radkersburg suffered multiple attacks by the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...

and, in the 15th and 16th centuries, attacks by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. In the early 18th century, peasant rebellions were a major problem. In 1605 the Mura flooded, causing great damage to Gornja Radgona and Radkersberg, and nearly every generation experienced the plague. The worst outbreak was in 1680, and left many houses without occupants. Gornja Radgona received

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small r ...

in 1907, and

town status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

after World War II. Prior to 1918 it was administratively connected with Radkersburg. In February 1929, exceptionally cold weather caused ice to accumulate against the old wooden bridge between Gornja Radona and Radkersburg, destroying it. A new wooden bridge was not built until 1932. The favorable geographical location and economic contacts (including joint cooperation in preventing flood and fires, and important transport links) resulted in the joint construction of a new bridge. The bridge was ceremonially opened on 12 October 1968 by Yugoslav leader

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...

and Austrian President

Franz Jonas Franz Josef Jonas (4 October 1899 – 24 April 1974) was an Austrian politician who served as the President of Austria between 1965 and 1974. He was a typesetter by profession and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. After Wor ...

. During the

Ten-Day War The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...

for Slovenia's independence in 1991, major fighting occurred at the Gornja Radgona border crossing.

Economy

Gornja Radgona is also known as a host of international fair events that are organized by Pomurski Sejem d.d. The best known is the International Agricultural and Food Fair, which is held every year and is attended by over 120,000 people. Gornja Radgona is known also for its wines.

References

External links

*
Gornja Radgona on Geopedia

Gornja Radgona municipal site

Pomurski Sejem d.d. - International fair events
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Gornja Radgona Austria–Slovenia border crossings Divided cities Cities and towns in Styria (Slovenia)