Roland is a symbol who represents many small and medium-sized towns in Saxony-Anhalt, symbolising free trade and prosperity.

The town also has a very old church [citation needed], and a tower known as the "Hexenturm" ("Witchtower"), in which the townspeople imprisoned accused witches and tortured them in the Middle Ages.

After flowing between the mills, the water continues on an artificial path for a couple of miles before returning to the Saale proper.

The name of the town comes from the verb "kalben", which means to calf (for a cow to give birth) in German, but it could also come from the Latin adjective "calvus", which describes a bleak landscape.

Calbe is famous for Bismarck's tower, which is located at the Wartenberg, and the long tradition for growing onions, which are regionally called "Bollen".