Zone 283 began in 1996, when a handful of gay leather men in Bremen sat down to work out how to keep the city's leather and fetish scene alive. The result is a registered association, and its purpose is straightforward: somewhere for gay men into leather, rubber, uniform and jeans to meet and talk.

It runs its own club rooms in the rear courtyard at Kornstraße 283 in Huckelriede — non-commercial, and fitted out by the members for what they actually want to do there. Entry is by buying a day membership, and the association says it holds strictly to its own dress code.

The programme is wide. The gay nights run from Gay Night and Leather & Uniforms through Naked & Underwear, Puppy, Rubber & Neopren, Sneakers & Sports and Workers Night to Red Night and Yellow Night; a mixed strand carries Black Night Cruising and the TüdelTreff. There are overnight stays, three kinds of supporting membership, and a calendar on the association's own site.