 As princess abbess of an Imperial Free Abbey, she had a seat and a vote in the Imperial Diet and all the rights and obligations of an Imperial Princess (such as low justice, right of taxation, right of legislation, right of coinage, fealty and sovereign immunity.The abbey in Essen was highly regarded at the time of Maria Kunigunde's accession to the throne.However, it was hardly comparable to a court life like that of her father in Dresden, or her brother Wenceslas in Koblenz, where Maria Kunigunde spent most of her time after 1769.