Do I understand things correctly? Setting outer-join=false does not prevent Hibernate from loading parent object but only instructs not to use outer join and use separate select instead?

Depends upon whether the associated object has prxoy enabled.

Ok :)

1. when Proxy is not used and outer-join=true (or auto) - both objects are fetched in ONE select
2. when Proxy is not used and outer-join=false - both objects are fetched in TWO selects
3. When Proxy is used, and outer-join=false (or auto), only first object is fetched and Proxy created for the associated object.

Is that all correct?

If yes, is it possible to somehow put in the documentation that the way #2 produces two selects? No doubt, it is obvoius for you but it may be surprise for others :)