However I wont miss the crew, in one word....Arrogant! But that's just my opinion.
Ah, not many German crews visit BRS I guess. They're just being... Germanic...
In respect of smaller a/craft, I don't know if that would have been feasible, or (if costs were the problem) a real cost saver. Remember that LH were overnighting two crews every night.
I understand there may be some fleet issues, which mean that smaller a/craft (or even the existing a/craft) wouldn't be available. And it certainly didn't warrant a 737-5, except on a few rare occasions.
One year wasn't long enough, and I doubt that was in anyone's plans to make a pull decision after a year. But something happened, which we'll never know the detail of.