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The area was a contact zone between the [[Finnic peoples|Finnic]] [[Livonians]] and the [[Balts]], and many prehistoric artifacts have been uncovered there. A [[Balts|Baltic]] hill-fort named Lennewarden being taken in [[fief]] by [[Albert of Buxhoeveden]] in 1201 is mentioned in the [[Chronicle of Henry of Livonia]]. This site is called ''Dievukalns'' (Hill of the Gods) in Latvian. [[Lielvārde Castle|A stone castle]] was constructed by the [[Archbishopric of Riga|Riga diocese]] in 1229; its ruins are still accessible today.
A parochial school was established when the area was part of [[Swedish Livonia]], but ca. 70% of the population perished in the [[Great Northern War plague outbreak|Great Plague of 1710]]. The opening of the [[Riga–Daugavpils Railway]] in 1861 led to the expansion of the town around the railway station [[Lielvārde Station|Rembate]]. The town was entirely destroyed in [[World War I]] but was swiftly rebuilt after Latvia achieved independence.
After the [[occupation of Latvia]] and its incorporation into the [[Soviet Union]] as the [[Latvian SSR]], Edgars Kauliņš (1903–1979), the local [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] secretary, was able to save all of the farmers in the district from deportation during the period of forced [[Collectivisation in the USSR|collectivization]], declaring that there were no [[kulak]]s in the area and he would rather be deported himself. In 1948 Kauliņš became the founding chairman of the [[kolkhoz]] Lāčplēsis ("The Bear Slayer"), now part of Lielvārde. The kolkhoz became famous for its beer, still brewed in Lielvārde by AS Lāčplēša alus, part of the Scandinavian [[Royal Unibrew]] brewing group since 2005. [[Lielvārde (air base)|Lielvārde air base]] was built by the Soviets in 1970; the largest in the [[Baltic countries|Baltic States]], it was taken over by the [[Latvian Air Force]] in 1994.
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