Interesting - you're abolsutely right. Looks like the foreign income is out regardless of whether it is declared in the CRA return or not.
5.31 explains the exceptions. However I don't think the second exception applies to the OP since the foriegn income was earned without actually living in Canada. My husband has income from several different foreign sources (his income is primarily from foreign sources) - but he's living in Canada full time (90% of his time is spent in Canada) and declares all of this foreign income on his CRA return. In my husband's case, I think his income would qualify for parent sponsorship (he's not sponsoring anyone - I'm just using his scenario as an example). However I think the OP's case is very different due to the lack of Canadian residency during the period when the income was earned and agree the income earned in Germany is likely out (i.e. won't be considered).