Calvörde is situated approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) northwest of Haldensleben and 37 km (23 mi) northwest of the state capital Magdeburg. It is located between the Drömling range in the west and the Flechtingen Hills in the south. In the north, it borders on Gardelegen in the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel district. The main settlement Calvörde proper lies between the Ohre River and the parallel Midland Canal.
The municipal area comprises 11 localities (Ortsteile):[3]
Archaeological excavations in the area date back to the Iron Age Jastorf culture about 600-300 BC. The settlement itself 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".
In the 11th century, the area was located in the eastern borderland of the Kingdom of Germany with the lands of the Polabian Slavs (Wends), who had reconquered the lands of the Northern March east of the Elbe River in the Great Slav Rising of 983. The forces of the Saxon nobles were able to repulse further Slav attacks and to control the way across the Ohre River. A fortress was erected, which from 1208 was held by the noble House of Regenstein.
