Archaeological excavations in the area date back to the Iron Age Jastorf culture about 600-300 BC. The settlement its welf was first documented in 1196, probably named after a ford crossing the Ohre river at the place where today still is a bridge. A trade route which came from Leipzig and Magdeburg in the southeast crossed the river here, leading northwestwards to Lüneburg and Hamburg, with a branch-off to Braunschweig in the west. "Calvörde" is possibly derived from "bleak ("kahl") ford", however, according to local tradition, the emergence of the ford is attributed to a man named Kale and the historic meaning is "Kale's ford".