Kruse, who had a sensational season with the Victory that saw him promoted to the Socceroo squad for the Asian Cup, joined the German second division club on a three-year deal.

"It's great to be able to play in this wonderful, traditional club," Kruse told the Fortuna website.

"I was very honoured by the interest of Fortuna and I think this is a great opportunity to develop myself and to show my skills."

Fortuna manager Norbert Meier added: "Robbie Kruse is a player with great development potential, but he is not a finished player.

"He comes into completely new circumstances, he must acclimatize himself, and we will give him all the time for it.

"He has plans to develop into a really good player and our path must be to do it collectively with him."

Meier also revealed talks with Kruse began in January with the club eager to secure his services.

"We spoke with him already in January. It is for us very important to be quick before other clubs could," Meier said.

Fortuna CEO Peter Frymuth said Kruse's signing was a good sign as the club tries to push for promotion having not played in the Bundesliga since 1997.

"We are pleased to welcome Robbie Kruse with us," Frymuth said. "His commitment is an important signal that we want to make a further step to continuously improve the team."

Frymuth also added he believed patience was needed with Kruse, as the move to Germany was a 'big step' for a young player.

Kruse, who has four Socceroos caps, scored 11 goals in 19 appearances for Victory last term.

Dusseldorf are currently 10th in Germany's 2.Bundesliga, out of contention for promotion but clear of relegation.