Hi Mishandled,
What make and model is th ADSL modem?
If as I am guessing it's a USB modem/router firstly there may be SuSE drivers out there under a diferent name, as many of the ADSL modems share the same few chip sets.
Secondly if it is USB then you may have a free network port on the desktop machine, which until you get the modem working will give you more connetion options for the laptop. I'd suggest reading microsoft's help pages on internet connection sharing then trying to get that working on the German PC.
If you don't have a USB ADSL modem then things might be even easier as it could just be a configuration issue.
Added later: This might help...
http://www.devhood.com/messages/mess...hread_id=71229