Likewise, de facto official languages are Slovenian and Hungarian due to former's colonial policy in the area.

The town took its name from, and grew up round, the Cistercian Szentgotthárd Abbey, founded here in 1183.

In 1664, it was the site of the Battle of Saint Gotthard, where an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli defeated the Ottoman Empire so that the Turks had to agree to the Peace of Vasvár, which held until 1683.

A second Battle of Saint Gotthard in 1705 was a victory for Rákóczi's anti-Habsburg Hungarian rebels.

During World War II, Szentgotthárd was captured by Soviet troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on 31 March 1945 in the course of the Vienna Offensive.