Its name is derived from Western Slavic chulm, meaning "hill", and refers to one of the nearby elevations, either Reiherberg (68 m (223 ft) a.s.l.)

The settlement of Kuhfort, bordering the Wildpark area of Potsdam, is located southeast of Golm, and east of the grassland of Golmer Luch.

Golm houses, among other things, since 1991 a complex of the University of Potsdam on the premises of former Luftwaffe and Reichsarbeitsdienst barracks, which after World War II became the site of a Stasi academy.

The latter can also be reached following a road extending east from Golm past Sanssouci Park to the Jägervorstadt quarter of Potsdam.

Golm is now a passenger station for regional trains to Potsdam, Wustermark, Hennigsdorf, and Berlin Brandenburg Airport.