Once it was a defensive stronghold for today's regional centre and its twin city, Bad Radkersburg, on the other side of the Mura River in Austria.

King Albert I of Habsburg 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.

In February 1929, exceptionally cold weather caused ice to accumulate against the old wooden bridge between Gornja Radona and Radkersburg, destroying it.

The bridge was ceremonially opened on 12 October 1968 by Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and Austrian President Franz Jonas.

During the Ten-Day War for Slovenia's independence in 1991, major fighting occurred at the Gornja Radgona border crossing.