They were EOL, I'm not sure what you expected them to do with them? I don't really care about whatever pro/anti nuclear stance you have, I think it's pointless to even discuss in the German context because that ship sailed years ago.
Prolong their lifetime like many countries constantly do? There are literally reactors from the 50s in operation, reactor life can be increased with maintenance and security improvements.
The shutdown was planned 3 years ago. The reactors were prepared for the shutdowns, maintenance was cancelled and also no new radioactive material was sourced for them. So, it was not easily possible to just revert the decision and just keep those reactors running. Even getting them back to a state, where they could be kept running longer would have taken several years.
They were EOL, I'm not sure what you expected them to do with them? I don't really care about whatever pro/anti nuclear stance you have, I think it's pointless to even discuss in the German context because that ship sailed years ago.